Only You
by kayura sanada
Summary: Things are rough enough for Duo after EW, but leaving Heero behind - even when Heero hated him - was roughest. Now Heero's back in his life, and he's dragging an army after him. 1x2, 3x4 Undergoing reconstruction.
1. On The Sidelines

Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Duh.

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Only You

Chapter 1

On The Sidelines

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Ah. He was bored, standing on his feet for the third hour in a row. His mind was wandering... back-story time? Back-story time.

How to start it? The war ended? Nope. That was pretty apparent. He remembered... but that was boring. Ah! How about this?

It was hard.

And it was true. He'd be lying if he said otherwise, and considering his calling phrase, at it were – running and hiding but never lying – he wouldn't bother, anyway. Even if the lie were believable.

Well, he should probably back up a bit more for just a second. There'd been the war, that very memorable war with its very memorable last battles. Five very distinct teenagers with five very distinct machines. And then those last battles had ended and he'd been alone.

Okay, that sounded melodramatic. It wasn't as if he'd put in a million volunteer hours into possible friendships with Heero and Quatre and the others, but hell if he hadn't at least tried for some old-fashioned camaraderie or something. Maybe looking for some peace? He'd kind of failed, of course. Miserably, if one felt like adding more to the summary.

So into the proverbial box his hurts had gone, and like Pandora's stupid mistake, only in reverse, his hope had gotten caught up in the box, too. If that didn't sound too self-pitying and emotional.

He could go on about trying to be funny and tough and a good little soldier, switching back and forth every once in a while in an effort to make them come out of his shell, even going so far as to be himself a few times, but the outcome's pretty apparent and who wanted to listen to all that?

Another summary could easily say he got tired of rejection and decided to skip the whole process.

He looked around the room he was in now, thinking about backstory and wishing he could jump out of one of the windows to escape his current job.

At least, he tought, thinking back to the rejections, he hadn't completely failed. He'd won over Quatre and Hilde, at least. Oh. Hilde. And he winced. She'd liked him, and he'd had to reject _her_. Kindly, of course. He just explained that, unfortunately, he didn't swing that way, but if he did he certainly would've been looking up her number. He remembered how well she'd handled it, so that hadn't been too bad. He also remembered – very, very vividly – what he'd made sure not to bring up during said rejection. An already-existent love interest.

Heero Yuy.

Nope. He definitely hadn't told her that. Maybe that was why she'd taken it well. Or maybe she'd really only had a crush. Or whatever. Like he had ever been able to fully understand that girl's mind.

Yeah. Even now, looking outside to the bushes lining the window, Duo couldn't say why he was interested in that bastard. Okay. Beyond the body that was custom-made for wet dreams. Seriously, what could've attracted to Heero? His personality was like a rock. His smiles were nonexistent unless the guy was imagining some sort of strategy or victory or... something else mission-related. The guy probably jerked off to mission assignments or something.

And raise the sirens if Duo started a conversation. The man was like chiseled ice.

How in the hell had he fallen in love with that?

So. Anyway. Good-bye with Maremaia, hello to a salvage business partnership with Hilde. Hello debris. Hello corpsicles. But what other job options were available? Anything he could get involved in would easily lead to another war. No thanks.

The two of them did all right, but the whole salvage thing eventually fell out. How long could salvage last when accidents hardly ever occurred anymore?

Things were rocky for the last three weeks or so and he and Hilde called it quits. They parted amicably enough, and Duo thought she got into business as a secretary to some businessman or another. She was a nice person, and he was happy for her. He, however, was not doing so well. He'd grown up on the streets, and he had no documentation of his time with Doctor G. He was basically screwed when it came to getting a job. It was embarrassing whenever Quatre called Duo, since inevitably the blond asked Duo how he was doing. Duo always dodged the question. Like hell he'd admit where he was right now.

So, a final sum-up. Enter real time. He found himself oddly proud of the fact that he wasn't on the street completely. Close enough, but a victory was a bloody victory, dammit. Especially since his lack of official documentation of how freaking smart he was somehow made people believe that he was a flaming moron. What the hell did papers have to do with anything? But damned if he didn't need proof that he wasn't some... well, bum off the street wasn't a good analogy, but what the hell.

He recalled searching for a job for that first month. He couldn't begin to count how many people who'd asked him for a college degree. The fact that he could do college calculus in his head didn't matter to them; they wanted proof that he knew what he was doing. The fact that he looked so young didn't win him any brownie points, either. And like hell he was bringing up the whole 'I'm a Gundam pilot' taboo piece.

So where had he found a job? Where was he right now, staring out the windows and wishing he were practically anywhere else? Why, Taco Bell.

Taco fucking Bell.

Technically – very, very technically – he was the right age for the job. Around seventeen or eighteen. How should he know? And here was the selling point: he didn't need documentation to get the position. Pfft. Position; like such a word was applicable in such a situation. It was just humiliating. He was a fucking Gundam pilot, for God's sake. And here he was in a fast food restaurant. A fucking fast food restaurant. And every time he looked around he only saw inefficiency. If he were in charge of the place, food would be getting out to the customers in half the time, at least. Some days he thought he could feel his brain matter leaking out his ears. There was no thought processing necessary for this damn job.

Probably why he'd gotten it. Dammit.

But he sucked it up and did it; he needed the money, and he wasn't able to go anywhere else. His background didn't really leave him with a lot of options, after all. He was basically screwed any way he looked at it.

So... Taco Bell. It had been about a year or so since Maremaia had been stopped and Dekim Barton had gotten his ass kicked. Salvage had gone on for a while, about half a year, and then after that he'd searched for a job for a couple of months. So that left four months. He'd been working at Taco Bell for around four months. And in the course of those four months he'd met more stupid people than he'd believed were left on the planet.

He pulled up an order, cashed in a new one, and pulled up a second. His eyes sought out the window again, tired and disturbed simply by the idea of dealing with this shit. At least, he thought happily, he'd been able to glean from Quatre the places where Heero and Wufei and Trowa and Quatre all lived and hung out, and he'd researched the places for Preventors' headquarters, so before he'd chosen this particular Taco bell he'd already known that no unsuspecting old acquaintance or lunch-break Preventor could see him. Thank goodness for that. Talk about combustion due to inflamed embarrassment.

Another person stepped up to his cash register, and he pasted on his usual dopey smile. "Hello, miss. How can I help you?" The woman looked to be in her twenties, blond. And nervous. Her body was tense, shoulders slightly hunched, arms wrapped defensively around one another. She caught his friendly smile and tried to return it.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. Those bright blue eyes flashed to his for a short instant, but they inevitably fell again. The woman seemed nice enough, he supposed, if he looked past her blatant nervousness. He cocked his head a slight bit and upped the grin a bit, offering her the comfort of a stranger's kindness. An old tactic, one he'd kept for several reasons, but one that had helped him several times during the war. Nothing like a kind person to open up one's defenses. "sorry," she repeated, and he saw her body relax a tiny bit. "I'm meeting someone today and I just feel so nervous." She pushed back a lock of hair and chuckled under her breath, unconsciously reinforcing her own words.

See? Kindness worked better and easier than force. Most times. And when the past flashed into his mind again, his smile almost slipped; shit. All this mental back-story to keep his brain occupied was costing him.

"It's quite all right, miss," Duo said politely, keeping the miss, cutting through her guard with practiced ease. The woman only then seemed to realize she was in the front of the line and apologized for a third time, quickly scanning the menu above Duo's head. He wasn't very tall, even with his stupid Taco Bell visor on, but he took a small step back so she knew not to rush.

It took her a few moments, but finally she smiled at him and he returned to the register. "I would like a number three, please. With a Coke."

"All right." Duo rung it up and patiently waited for her to give him the money, then went to grab the food from the shelf personally. He made sure to grab the warmer food. She needed the best they had, not the shit that had been waiting for over fifteen minutes. Talk about a nervous wreck.

It was when he turned around to put food in front of the blond woman that he saw him. _Him_. Enter bold, capital letters.

He walked through those stupid glass doors and scanned the room just as Duo plunked the woman's tray down. That cold cobalt gaze noted everyone, just as they always did. Searching for threats. Duo saw customers back away from Heero instinctively, wary of the look. Duo was even worse, shamefully hiding his sorry ass behind the taco maker, carefully sliding as naturally as possible while not turning his back around to show off his tell-tale braid.

What the hell was that guy doing here?!

That blank gaze moved to Duo's cash register, over Duo's hidden form – and stopped. His heart froze, then jackhammered. Had Heero seen him? Shit, shit. He would die of humiliation if he had. No. He would live. That would be worse. Duo almost prayed for some deity to save him from such an experience, but he didn't dare call any deity's attention to him just in case. Deities, if they existed, had a bad habit of fucking with him. Immortality gave them too much free time, he figured.

Heero walked toward the counter in front of Duo. And the taco maker gave him a funny look.

His breath was almost impossible to control, but control it he did, with an iron control borne of the knowledge that Heero would notice such a strange breathing pattern. Shit. At least the taco maker – Richard, if he remembered correctly – and the woman he'd been serving were both preoccupied with Heero's arrival, too.

He felt his face flame as Heero marched his way forward. Shit shit shit. Just what he wanted Heero to see – him with the gay Taco bell hat and apron on. Shinigami tossing tacos. Fantastic.

And then Heero paused in front of none other than the blond he'd just served. His first reaction was a sigh of relief that would have been outrageously stupid of him. The second was a tiny little jolt of insight. Click. The meeting. Why she was so nervous. Heero, Duo knew from Quatre, was with the Preventors. She was probably a witness or something. That was why Heero was here. That was why she was so seriously scared, why Heero wasn't scanning the room with his usual fervor. He had been scanning the crowd for the woman, not for anything out of place – like an ex-Gundam pilot in a Taco Bell uniform.

Thank you, God. Or whoever. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Heero paid absolutely no heed to the other people in line, but they sure as hell paid heed to his entrance and backed up, giving him plenty of space. "We need to move," he said in his short, clipped voice. Duo found himself reacting to it subconsciously, moving a little closer. His body remembered that voice. His mind remembered how much he'd once wished for it to soften. And he remembered this exact feeling that was hitting him, the mix of happiness and pain. He wanted to get the hell out of there. He wanted to form into a puddle and slide through the cracks in the tiled floor. He wanted... he just wanted.

He kept his ass hidden, angry with himself.

"What's wrong?" she asked nervously. Shit. 'Nervously' again. She was trapped in that damn 'nervous' state again.

"We need to go. There's no time for questions."

That had to have been the longest explanation Duo had ever heard come out of Heero Yuy's mouth. It had only been a year since Duo had last seen him. Had he increased his vocabulary so much in so short a time? Heero would've stayed silent or simply said 'move' to Duo. Or maybe a 'hn.' Those 'hn's had been popular, too.

Maybe the man had gone through special training. Usually the man's form of communication had been a gun in the face. How many times had Duo seen that barrel?

"Have they found me?" the blond asked, and Duo's senses sharpened as she asked. So he'd been right. She was on the run.

"Let's go," was Hero's answer, and he grabbed her arm. _So his vocabulary _hasn't_ greatly improved,_ Duo thought, but the words in his mind were drowned out by the sounds of hell breaking loose.


	2. Firefight

Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Duh.

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Only You

Chapter 2

Firefight

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Duo was on the floor before he understood that bullets were ripping apart the glass doors and embedding themselves in the walls. Windows crashed under their own weight and burst into pieces on the floor. Screams poured through the air. He could here the sounds of people falling to the floor of the store, heard the unmistakable sound of some hitting a bit too hard, too much in the wrong angle, and knew that they'd been hit. "Everyone stay down!" he shouted, trying desperately to be heard above the uproar, but he was too busy covering his own ass to check and see if the others in the building could hear him, let alone acted on his words.

And it was ridiculous, but only then did he remember that Heero Yuy was out there somewhere, thick in the middle of the crossfire, and his body tensed. It was stupid, absolutely ridiculous – the perfect soldier, injured? Ha! – but nonetheless he reacted. The counter only had a small place where no counter existed, and that little hole just happened to be on the side of the gunfire. Duo's progress around the opening was a bit slow, careful to not be seen. I shucked the hat and apron on that thought; the damn things would stick out far too much.

He slid across the once-smooth surface of the counter's sides and stopped cold when a new round of firing erupted. Bullets sank deep into the counter around me, and despite knowing better Duo cringed from the sound. Shit. Apparently a year was long enough to get used to the idea of _not_ having bullets flying toward one's face.

He searched the room for Heero and caught a quick flash of his tousled brown hair from behind the soda counter. Heero's hand reached around the counter, a regulation-issue pistol in his hand, and fired three shots into the fray. The screams in the room rose rather dramatically.

It was a slow process, getting closer to Mr. Perfect without having the man see him as a moving target, but inch by inch he managed it. A morbid thought flitted through his mind, informing him that Heero shooting him through the eyes would probably solve a couple employment issues. Then a bullet whizzed past his face and he couldn't be bothered to care enough about the joke on way or the other.

Then Duo was close enough to see a bit more from behind the soda counter, and he could see Heero's basic profile. Another foot or so and he could see a sudden glint of bouncy blond hair. The woman. The woman was back there with Heero, and he could see Heero trying to usher the woman over toward the back entrance. But she was too petrified, and it seemed to be pissing Heero off.

He scooted a bit more and tried to get Heero's attention, but Heero's eyes were focused on the enemy and tuned me out as easily as the other civilians screaming and sprawling and flailing around him. The blond saw him, though, and he gestured for her to get Heero's attention for him. Her eyes were wide, dilated; her skin was pale. Shit. Heero's witness was going into shock.

She didn't seem to understand his movements at first, or else maybe she just couldn't take in visual stimuli, so disturbed was she, but then finally comprehension dawned in her blank blue eyes and she shook Heero's shoulder. He turned to her, annoyance bordering on rage eminent all over his face, and Duo could see something else there, too, but it wasn't on his list of Heero Facial Expressions and he didn't bother to analyze it. The woman pointed Duo's way and Heero turned. Duo could swear there was an audible click when their eyes met.

And suddenly Duo couldn't think.

Heero's eyes were still that dark, exotic blue, that same midnight sky look. And they were more expressive than during the war. Duo managed to catch a brief flicker in those endless depths before they closed off access for him again.

Duo shivered, momentarily blind and deaf to everything around him.

"Duo?"

Sound returned, and sight. There as a power in the sound of his name on Heero's lips. And if anyone other than the Perfect Soldier had said it, Duo might have thought that there could have been a trace of anguish in that tone. But this was Mr. I-can-do-anything-because-I-said-so Yuy. Mr. Heartless. He must've been imagining it.

"Duo?" Heero said again. "Is that you?"

That monotone voice mixing with those words confused Duo enough to snap him from his startled reverie. He nodded tersely and rolled across the open space, tucking himself in front of the woman and down enough to not be visible. He ignored the creepy feeling of having a bullet fly so close one could feel the wind in its wake.

It was as if he'd suddenly been blasted back to his past, to the war, and he was under heavy enemy fire. There was no fear. There was no time for it. He was Shinigami again, the cloak fitting over his form with practiced ease.

And Heero was crouched there beside him, giving him orders and just expecting them to be obeyed. "I need to get Miss Paisley out of here," Heero said.

Duo's eyebrows shot up. He took a moment to glance at the woman's pale face before turning back to his old war partner. "You mean you _don't_ want her to stay?"

It truly was like old time, with the Glare of Death and everything. "She's vital to this case. I need her alive."

"You do?!" Duo turned to the woman. "It's like an endearment," he explained, taking in her unfocused eyes. "It means he's concerned for your welfare."

Okay, he was about ready to admit he was acting on autopilot. It had been about a year since he'd clapped eyes on Heero, and there they were, hiding behind a counter in Taco Bell. He'd admit to being guilty of imagining himself and Heero meeting again, but somehow his imagination had missed this possible plot point.

But his antics had managed to get a reaction from the woman, which was good. Duo watched her eyes flicker and focus on his face and grinned for her. Thank goodness. There would be a couple difficult moments ahead if she didn't get out of shock at least a little.

Heero seemed to realize what his joking had managed to accomplish and refrained from shooting him. "I'm going to draw the enemy's fire, so take her with you and run."

"Alone?!" he asked incredulously, and Heero took the time to send him another scorching glare. He ignored it. "I know you're good, Heero, damned good, but there are probably around fifteen guy's out there!"

"By the gunshots, I'd say about sixteen," Heero confirmed. Duo deigned to roll his eyes. Of course. From the _gunshots_. He had probably found all of their positions by calculating the sounds of the gunshots or something. Fucking genius.

He took his growing sense of awe and squashed it under his thumb.

"Right," Duo muttered, terse and put-out, and grabbed the woman's arm. He leaned in until his lips were near her ear. "Stay low." He glanced at the back entrance. There could be enemies back there, but they had to take the risk. There was no where else to...

But no, that wasn't right. He looked back at the cashier's counter, where he'd come from. How far until the other side of the counter, where they'd be shielded from the gunshots? It was a pretty little ways, but the rear entrance, made only for employees, was a safer bet than the rear entrance. People often forgot about employee entrances; their eyes skimmed right over them. That exit would most likely be untouched.

Duo caught Heero's eyes and nodded over to the counter, then to the Miss Paisley woman. He nodded and stood and planted his legs and pointed his gun and fired, all in one smooth motion.

One short moment was spared watching Heero's muscles contract, amazed that the interest he'd held in Heero hadn't abated in the least. Then he looked at Miss Paisley and nodded, letting her know it was time to head out. Then it was crouch time, and Duo maneuvered until he was safely in front of the woman, and then he led her out into the gunfire. A few bullets flew past my ear, but Heero adjusted his stance in an instant and shot one simple bullet. A strangled cry ended our attacker's efforts.

So he _had_ found the enemies' positions. Fuckin' unbelievable.

Miss Paisley was shaking like hell, and Duo had to waste a precious moment to try to comfort her. "It's gonna be okay," he whispered, turning his face to her but never leaving an opening for a bullet to hit her. They safely touched the side of the cashier's counter. Duo held a hand to her stomach and pushed her back against the counter. "We're professionals." It probably wouldn't be best to admit that he wasn't a Preventor, nor that he was only a professional at killing someone, not saving them. The woman came to her own conclusions.

"You mean you were a Preventor the whole time?"

Duo smiled reassuringly at her and tugged her a marginal little inch toward the little counter opening he'd initially come through. He kept silent; you couldn't lie when you didn't say anything, right?

She relaxed visibly. "You're very different than him," she said, nodding over toward Heero. "Are the two of you partners?"

"We work together sometimes," Duo said evasively, and kept her moving forward. The bullets were getting more and more accurate. They were running out of time.

"Is he always so difficult?" Duo stopped and gave a surprised back of laughter.

"Hell, yes."

She laughed, too. Well, relaxing her had at least been a success. They reached the edge of the counter, bullets scratching up the tiles on the floor around their feet. And this, Duo thought with a grimace, was where it got tricky. He had to get the Paisley woman around the corner before him, but he had gone before her to keep her from getting shot as they made their way up to the edge. He timed the enemy's shots, pulled his feet up a little closer to himself to protect them, and looked to Heero. He nodded silently and ducked down to replace the magazine of his gun.

And suddenly all bullets were focused solely on Duo and the woman.

Paisley tensed and tried to get even closer to the counter than she already was. "Get ready," Duo told her, his words hurried so as to get everything out before Heero was done. "As soon as... my partner comes back up, you need to go behind me over to the other side of the counter. No matter what, don't hesitate. Do you understand?"

"What do you mean, 'no matter what?'"

Duo shook his head. "For once, that asshole's right. We need to move; I can't tell you." Just then, Heero popped up above the counter again. "Now!" he hissed. "Go!"

He scooted up, and she went to get behind him. The enemy saw what they were up to and ignored Heero, even when he took out two other men. Paisley screamed as the bullets all shattered the counter and floor and very air around us. "Keep moving!" he shouted. He kept his body in front of her the whole time, and finally she managed to make it to the other side. With a quick slide he followed her. Agony lanced up his arm, a sharp punch to his upper arm. He ignored it and joined Paisley behind the counter.

Miss Paisley had a hand to her throat and was panting like she'd run a marathon. Her eyes were closed, almost clenched shut. Duo took another moment to study her. Definitely in her early twenties, he thought. Her body was flushed a deep pink due to the stress and fear, and he could almost hear her heartbeat thudding and tripping over itself in its haste, mirroring his own. He looked at his arm and grimaced. It was exactly as he'd feared. A bullet had embedded itself deep into his tricep. Blood was pouring rather freely from the wound, pooling onto the tiled floor.

He caught his focus slipping and pulled it back with a rush. The woman. He had to get the woman to safety. That was his mission. He looked at her and slightly shook her with his good arm – left. "Come on," he whispered. His shaking forced her eyes open – or maybe his words – but nonetheless they were open and he stared into them as if he could force her to understand. "We need to move."

Something got through to her because she nodded and prepared to move. She stopped short at the sight of Duo's injured arm. Those eyes of hers filled with pain, but he just smiled. "It's my job," he said, allowing himself this small lie. "I'm fine."

Her look was rather incredulous, but he hurried her off and ushered her back around the taco stand and the food preparation counter and got her back into the open area that led to the freezers and the sinks. His co-workers looked up from their positions on the floor and must have seen the blood. There was a collective gasp and a couple stood to help.

"Stay down. They're still out there."

Most seemed to agree with his assessment and huddled once more to the floor, but one stayed crouched. "You okay, Duo?" It was the fifteen-year-old, the one who'd been around for about three months and had taken a bit of a shine to Duo. Her hair was coal black and cropped to her neck. It was matted now, but working in Taco Bell one had to be used to not looking too fantastic, anyway, if only because of the hats and aprons.

Duo took a precious second to nod to her. "Sorry about the mess I'm making," he said absently, his eyes searching the area around him. For once he was glad there were no windows in the back. If he was right about the employees' exit, they were almost home free. Which was a big if.

"It's not much compared to the rest," she replied, and he smiled again for her before he headed toward the exit. He grabbed Miss Paisley's wrist with his good hand and pulled her forward with him.

Then they were in front of the exit and he pushed her behind him, into the shadows of the door so she wouldn't be seen. Slowly he opened the door.

The face in front of him made him freeze.


	3. Struggle

Disclaimer - The Gundam boys are _not mine_. I have to bring this up each chapter, and it sucks.

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Only You

Chapter 3

Struggle

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"_Wufei?"_

Familiar coal-black eyes widened in stunned disbelief. _"Duo?"_

In retrospect, not expecting Wufei to be somewhere in all this chaos was rather stupid. Hadn't Quatre told him that both Heero _and_ Wufei had joined Preventors? And of course they'd partnered up, as Quatre had noted, because they were used to working together and were both exceptional fighters. Envy flashed through him like molten lava, heating him into a blaze. Of course they would join together. They were almost exactly the same. They were stoic, silent, decided, assertive, and dead set on their missions. They also both hated Duo's guts.

Oh, this was going to be an absolute joy.

"_Status!"_ Wufei snapped, and he realized he'd blanked out again. Shit. He gathered his energy and forced himself to pay attention. Still, he couldn't help the old feeling of someone having his back, of the light pressure that no longer weighted him down. Back-up. Reinforcements.

"Not in danger," he finally replied.

Miss Paisley stepped out from behind the door before Duo could tell her not to. But Wufei'd already covered the back; Duo could vaguely make out a few downed bodies. Thank goodness Wufei'd been there, or else they would've been taken out when he'd opened the door. "If you aren't in danger, honey, then I don't want to know what you've gone through."

It was rather apparent that her relief at seeing back-up was about equal to his own. Maybe even greater.

Duo just shook his head and gently led her forward, officially giving her over to Wufei. "No, you don't," he told her. He tried to keep his tone light, but it just ended up sounding tense despite his efforts. Damn, damn, damn. It had been a bit too long since he'd experienced the punch of adrenaline, the sort of pain that only accompanied battle. Wufei took one look at him and ushered for him to come, too.

Duo shook his head and stepped back inside, closing the door in front of him. If he hadn't been trying to hard to keep his focus, Wufei's stunned face would have been rather comical. But there was no way he was going to leave Heero alone against so many enemies. Hell if he knew what he could do to help, but hell if he was leaving Heero alone, either. Besides, his co-workers were still in there, in the thick of the gunfire. This was _his_ workplace, dammit; he needed money, damn it all, and these assholes just randomly came over _trashed the place he worked?!_ No _way_ were they getting away with that!

He slipped quietly through the back again, and his eyes caught sight of the young girl again. She gave him a rather tight smile, her eyes frozen mid-emotion and looked rather pointedly at his injured arm. He shrugged his right shoulder and returned the smile with a rather reckless one of his own. So he was wounded. There wasn't much he could do about it at the moment.

His way back to the battlefield was faster then his exit, free now that he was from he civilian female who had slowed him down. He slid back against the cashier's counter. His blood, though he didn't spare more than a glancing thought for it, was seeping deep into his jeans. He moved slowly around the corner. The gunshots were still coming strong. He felt one pass right by him and felt that same tingle that warned him about how close it'd been. The feeling was ignored as easily as his lost blood. His eyes scanned the area, searching for Heero. He wasn't acting as decoy anymore, which made sense. But still the worry pumped through his system. Was Heero hurt?

He scooted around the counter a bit faster and felt the fear slam into his gut. Heero wasn't behind the counter any longer. Duo's eyes narrowed. Before he could think about the ethics of it, he turned to a middle-aged man with a bullet wound in the back and asked, "did you see where my friend went?"

The man was wearing a suit's undershirt and nice slacks. And his blood loss was fatal. His glazed eyes scanned Duo over and latched on his injured arm. "Your friend is... all right, son," he gasped. Though the man's eyes were almost empty, showing just how close he was to dying, Duo could see that even if the man didn't want to die, he wasn't regretting the moment too much. Thank goodness. "He... left... a little while ago."

"And left you here?!" Duo demanded angrily, not believing Heero would be so heartless, but the man just smiled.

"He told me... to tell you to... get the hell out. And to... meet with him and... his partner." He coughed a bit, spilling more blood onto the floor, but he continued talking, anyway. Duo's hands fluttered uselessly by his sides. "He said... that I would... not be... forgotten."

And those words sounded so unlike the old Heero that it took some time to realize that he'd been given an order.

"He was right, you know," Duo said as he inched his way back the way he'd come. "You won't be forgotten."

But the man had already given up his fight.

* * *

His progress back was pretty slow, his concentration going mostly into correctly placing his feet on the ground and crawling forward without landing on his face. His free arm tried ineffectually to stem the blood flow from his arm. He was losing too much blood. This time he ignored the girl when she looked at him. His eyes took in everything around him, but they kept sliding stupidly to the employee exit and latching there.

He opened the door without any fanfare whatsoever and shuffled his slow way out from the building. The area was clear of enemies, all of them downed already. His eyes caught on an ostentatiously nondescript white van and started making his way toward it, knowing something that blah _had_ to be uniform issue.

Wufei turned to see him coming up to the van and hurried to meet him. Duo was more than content to stop moving and wait for Wufei to reach him. His mind made another interesting trip, informing him of just how much more blatant his blood would appear to be on that particular paint job. He sighed.

It was pathetic, really, but he had sighed at the comforting silence before realizing that silence meant no more gunfire. He looked blindly at Wufei as the Chinese man finally stopped in front of him. "Where'd they go?" he asked stupidly. His speech was slurred. Oh, shit. He felt his fingers tingle, watched as the world tilted rather dangerously. He shook his head to clear it, but that only made the world dance a bit faster. He groaned. But there was no way, no way in five flaming hells, that he was going to bloody well _faint_ in front of Wufei. Hell, no.

Head pounding bad enough to bring tiny white spots to the corners of his eyes, Duo focused on Wufei's words. "...Heero came around the building and took the witness out of the area. They're chasing after them now, though you and I both know it's useless. I can only guess that you're the reason they stuck around a bit longer before chasing after Yuy?"

Duo started to nod before realizing that doing so would land his face in the concrete. "Yeah. I've been shot," he said, then cringed. Well, no shit there, Duo. Thank you for that startling revelation.

"We've got to get you to a doctor," Wufei said, apparently willing to ignore the stupidity of Duo's statement. "You're bleeding heavily."

Duo rolled his eyes in lieu of a 'duh,' but his balance swam and circled and he found his body swaying. Wufei grabbed his good arm and held him steady. Those white spots got a bit bigger and took over a bit more of his vision.

"Status," Wufei whispered in his ear, his voice worried. Duo managed a "bad" before falling deep into darkness.


	4. Aftermath

Disclaimer – It's not mine, you idiots.

* * *

Only You

Chapter 4

Aftermath

* * *

"_Maxwell!"_

"Wufei, we managed to shake off – oh, my God, Duo! We need to get him to a hospital! _Now!"_

* * *

"...maintained severe hemorraghing (1). There are a few other minor complications, but it seems he'll be just fine."

"The surgery."

"It was a complete success, Mr. Yuy," the older, unfamiliar voice, seemed to assure. "The bullet was safely removed. His immune system is quick and efficient. Rather strong, actually. He might very well have bled to death if embolus hadn't occurred (2). We fixed that, as well. The bullet had gone through a major artery, after all."

"Which?" Heero snapped, and half-asleep though I was, I _had_ to roll my eyes, at least mentally. Yes, Heero. That's right – give the poor innocent doctor heart failure. That would definitely help.

"It hit the brachial artery."

Heero cursed.

"Because of the hemorrhaging, hypovolemia has also developed (3). We have to slowly return the correct amount of plasma to his body, but other than that, he seems remarkably stable."

Duo was aware enough now that he could take that as a compliment, though he couldn't quite see just what the hell was so stable about him when he was trapped in a damn hospital bed.

"How long until his recovery?"

There was a short, distinct pause before the doctor said, "I cannot be sure. We would like to keep him here for a few days to see if he gets an infection, which could cause major complications, including-"

"I know the consequences."

Smartass. The big words were kind've going over his head, but Duo still wanted to get a few hints as to just how bad off he was, and Heero cutting the doctor off was not conducive to him getting a lot of information.

A short spasm of pain shot up his arm and he flinched on instinct. A beeping sound flipped a bit. Both men rather predictably shut up, and mentally Duo cursed. Dammit.

"Mr. Maxwell, are you awake?" Suddenly the doctor sounded all perky and happy. Optimistic. Did that mean his condition was worse than it'd sounded? Gods he hated hospitals.

The damn beeping jumped. The doctor's presence drifted closer, over next to my shoulder by the bed. "It's all right, Mr. Maxwell," the doctor said, his voice so soothing it put Duo on his guard, "you're in a hospital. You took a rather bad one. How do you feel?"

Duo dared to open his eyes and was promptly blinded by the damn lights. He heard movement, soft and fluid, and then the lights behind his eyelashes dimmed. He gratefully turned to the doctor, but the man hadn't moved from his side. That meant Heero. Heero had dimmed the lights for him?

Warmth spread through him before he could help it, and hope followed shortly after.

The heart monitor steadied beside the doctor. "Thanks, Heero," Duo called over, and he tried to sit up.

"Whoa, now. Calm down there, Mr. Maxwell," the doctor said, gently reaching out to grab his shoulders. "You've got to stay still. I know you Preventors don't enjoy being this vulnerable, but you've got to lie still, anyway." And the man took the chance to gently push Duo back into the bed.

Duo blinked at the man rather stupidly, his mind racing. _You Preventors?_ The doctor thought Duo was part of the Preventors? He waited for Heero to argue, or maybe to just correct the man, but he said nothing. Did that mean Heero was somehow in on the deception? Maybe its leading member? But why?

In the silence Duo began to correct the doctor _for_ Heero, but the ex-pilot cut him off. "Doctor Kanabi, would you leave us for a few minutes, please?"

The doctor nodded, and his eyes seemed to say that he believed Heero and Duo had something important to discuss. Something Preventor-like. Again Duo tried to fix up the misunderstanding. "Certainly, Mr. Yuy," the doctor responded, almost as if _waiting_ for the moment to cut him off, and glared down at him, apparently warning him off from something. What the hell? "I hope you aren't like your partner here. Don't try to leave."

Duo's mouth hung like a carp's, rather flabbergasted by the maneuvering taking place around him, like fate itself was against him getting a word in edgewise. He figured he was better off just giving it up and closed his mouth with a slight snap.

The bastard doctor actually seemed pleased by his silence and, with one last nod, left the room. Heero was the only other in the room then, and the man was still standing slightly beside the room's light switches. Duo gave him a wary gaze and waited. Just what the hell was Heero making them alone for? There was no way in hell it could be an update on the goings-on; he wasn't a bloody Preventor, no matter what the doctor thought. So was it lecture time or something? Was he going to say a few words on his recklessness? Or maybe he needed an opinion on the woman's mental status, or was it about his random appearance in Taco Bell, of all places?

Or was the bastard just going to keep standing there staring at him like he was a piece of meat?

"What?" Duo demanded. He shifted very slightly, trying to get as comfortable as possible. Those damn blue eyes bore down on him, and again he got that feeling of being checked over, like Heero was deciding if he was good enough for something.

"Status," Heero snapped suddenly, and before Duo even noticed it he had responded, acting on pure, age-old instinct.

"Not in danger."

And then the Perfect Soldier snorted. "You had once taken two bullets to the back and you'd said you weren't in any fucking danger." The look on his face was just plain odd; for the life of him, Duo couldn't catalog it. "How are you _really_?"

The friendly voice coming out of that face couldn't possibly have been Heero's. It was a hallucination. Or a clone. Maybe he was still unconscious and this situation was simply a dream. Yeah. That sounded about right. It was certainly a dream-like situation, Heero asking him about his welfare.

When Duo responded, he did so carefully. "Heero, I'm fine."

"You just got shot!" the man immediately argued.

"Gee, Heero, I didn't know that. Really?" The words were out long before he thought about them, but he was given the immediate chance to regret them. Heero's strangely open face snapped closed again, back into the emotionless mask, and the man glared at him. He tried to backtrack. "Heero-"

"The subject was safely transported to a new safehouse thanks to you." Heero regarded him the same way as he had during the war, a transformation that actually hurt him. What the hell? He'd been freaked by Heero's... nice-ness... and now he was distraught by the return of that damn look.

Had Duo just... shoved Heero away?

"You'll receive word from the commander to commend you for your assistance," Heero continued, then, done with his little speech, turned away. He was right next to the damn door; it was opened before Duo managed to get his mouth working again.

"Heero," he called, "I didn't-"

But he walked out.

He was horrified to find hot tears in his eyes and, forced to lie down as he was, was rather hard-pressed to keep them down. Shit. Heero had been worried about him. The Perfect Soldier had worried about him. And had been _nice_ to him. It had been so strange, so unnatural, compared to what he'd been used to, and on reaction he'd thrown on his mask, shot out a sarcastic joke.

And he'd paid for it.

* * *

1) heavy bleeding

2) a clot formed by platelets that blocks a blood vessel

3) a term which desbribes a condition of abnormally low intravascular volume with a decreased volume of circulating plasma in the body. It can be due to blood loss or dehydration.


	5. Consequences

Disclaimer – People, really. Must I even say it?

* * *

Only You

Chapter 5

Consequences

* * *

Heero never came back.

Duo slowly healed, though the doctors assured him he was recovering quickly. Every day he secretly hoped Heero would return, if only so that he could apologize for what he'd done. But he never came back.

The doctor eventually released him from the hospital, and to his utter torment and humiliation, one of the nurses had to drive him to his home. It was rather difficult to endure the torture like a man when the woman kept giggling at his face.

Of course, being trapped in the house all day every day gave him more than enough tie to randomly think. And of course the first damn thing to constantly pop into his brain just had to be Heero Yuy. It had been a year since he'd last seen the man, and he'd come back only to wreck his workplace, which forced him to try to find a new job. It was like he was bloody well starting over again, only working _backwards_ thanks to his damn injured arm.

Worse, the bastard had brought back emotions Duo had thought long buried. And then he just poofs off again! Mission: protect woman. Mission: complete. Why stick around? It wasn't necessary. Allies could be replaced, especially these days – especially when it's an old ally who wasn't a full-time ally anymore. They weren't important. Let them handle themselves. Like the man on the floor of Taco Bell. Stupid, on their part, to get injured in the first place. Promise to remember them and walk away.

Duo found himself standing stupidly outside his house one afternoon, staring rather blankly out toward the empty suburban road. Not until families began returning to their own rented houses would the road fill. His arm was trapped in both a sling and a cast, the doctor warning him not to overdo it. Apparently the cast and sling were supposed to deter him. He might have argued that he wasn't a part of the Preventors, damn it all, but figured Heero had his reasons and just let it go.

Stupidly Duo wondered where Heero lived. Then he wondered what said man would do if he caught a look at Duo's house. If Heero had somehow learned how to laugh, the bastard would definitely bust a gut laughing at him. Thank goodness, he sighed with relief, Heero had never learned that he'd worked at Taco Bell. That probably would've acted as the catalyst that _taught_ the man to laugh.

He trudged his way back into the house, disturbed that he'd been called out anyway; like hell he wanted to be seen with the damn contraption all over his arm. At least Heero hadn't stuck around to see just how pathetic lil' old Duo Maxwell had become.

Then it was off to the bedroom. He fell, ridiculously grateful for the chance to escape, and curled into his sheets and off to sleep, middle of the day, clothes and everything.

* * *

Duo had lengthened his hospital stay as long as he'd been able, wanting to be fairly healthy before hiking back to his place alone and selfishly hoping to see Heero. There hadn't been a good reason to rush, in any case. No one waited for him at home, after all.

He'd found out his first few days back that the decision to stay had been a very wise choice. He'd been tired those first few days back, though he'd been given enough blood, and he'd been told it was simply a reaction to the problems due to his body's defense mechanisms. Or something. He hadn't particularly cared when the doctor had been talking about it.

He'd thought he could handle the lethargy, since he'd dealt with blood loss and whatnot before, but he'd found a huge annoyance in doing even just the simplest things. Cooking was even more of a chore than usual, and going to the bathroom was kind of interesting with only one hand.

And if the physical drama wasn't enough, he'd received a call from none other than Lady Une formally thanking him for his valor under fire and assisting her commanders. Duo'd worked solely on instinct, and he only vaguely recalled saying some bullshit about it being old hat and how he hadn't wanted any gratitude. So the woman had paid the medical bills and left him alone.

And as embarrassing as it was, he didn't argue the payment. He could only afford – literally – to be thankful.

He'd never had cable, thank goodness, so he hadn't needed to worry about that particular bill. The phone lines were cut a few weeks after the incident, the electricity a week after that. So it had been over a month since he'd seen Heero. His search for a job was rather comical, at least if one could find the humor to laugh. His abilities had been chopped in half, after all. The small things he _could_ do took him forever and a day to finish. At least therapy didn't come in until after the damn cast was off, which wouldn't come for a few more weeks. The Taco Bell store was almost completely renovated, but he didn't know if he'd be accepted back, what with circumstances as they were.

So Duo was going stark raving mad in need for money. And though he knew Quatre could easily pick up the slack, and even if he could choke his pride silent long enough, he still wouldn't be able to call the blond, knowing that the Worry Chain would start. Quatre would worry like hell over Duo, and then the worry would go on down the damn proverbial line and the dominoes would topple quicker than he could blink. And those damn dominoes would include the other ex-Gundam pilots. So he struggled with payments, managing to hold onto the townhouse through sheer grit and the beauty of saved-up pennies and dimes.

Of course, tenacity could hold on to much for long, and when the water was turned off, Duo might have actually screamed. He spent that night tugging at his hair and pacing and trying to ignore how damn hungry he was.

The next morning he woke up quickly and got dressed as fast as he could, ready to bolt out and grab a damn job before he smelled too bad to get one. He was fairly desperate; he'd sunk to accepting babysitting jobs or even pet-sitting, and he'd found himself tutoring a couple kids. It wasn't working. It wasn't enough.

He opened the door with his left hand and hopped out onto the steps, then the sidewalk, then his rotter of a car. He put on his best, most winning smile and firmly ignored his grumbling stomach some more. It would shut up eventually. The only food he had left were a few pieces of bread and maybe a Cream of Mushroom can. He swallowed, felt the dryness of his throat, and decided to also ignore how thirsty he was until he managed to find a water fountain in the nearby park.

By that afternoon, he was officially ready to punch in the face of the next jackass who said a crippled cashier wasn't what they were looking for.

By the evening, he was tired, dirty, and completely fed up with the entire damn ordeal. He just couldn't seem to find a job, not in his condition. Which was total bullshit, honestly, because even with just one hand he was most likely more capable than those with two, and dammit but he could do calculations in his head that some computer engineer somewhere was struggling with.

He gave up for the day and drove his sorry ass back to his townhouse. He'd just managed to park and get out when he heard a startlingly familiar voice. Shit.

"Duo!"

He turned to his side. Quatre was running up to him, waving. Worry and pain were in his wide blue eyes, almost strong enough to leap out and attack him outright. He winced. Duo's eyes caught movement from behind the blond and wanted to scream. Trowa and Heero and Wufei were all following after the blond, walking much more sedately, all of them piercing him with their eyes. He turned back to his car longingly. What were the chances of him making it back inside and out onto the road before one of the four caught him?

"Don't even think about it," Heero growled before they even reached him, and he sighed in defeat. It probably wouldn't have worked, anyway. And it would only worsen the situation. Whatever the situation was.

Quatre reached him then, and the little blond immediately threw himself at the braided pilot. Duo tried to catch him with one arm, but it was awkward and they ended up falling, Quatre sprawled on top of him thanks to some mid-fall maneuvering. But then the blond was pushing himself up and planting those damn puppy-dog eyes of his on Duo. He looked at the corporate mogul carefully, then tried on a patented Duo Maxwell grin. "Hey, Qat," he said breezily. "Want to warn me the next time you come around here? I think my back needs a little warning before going through this again." He'd specifically aimed for a teasing tone, but it seemed his words had only hurt the boy more.

"Duo," Quatre said quietly, and Duo's grin vanished at the obvious sound of distress, "why didn't you tell me you were in such financial straights?"

"Financial straights?" Duo echoed. Heero and Trowa and Wufei stopped right at their feet, looking down on them. _On him_.Oh, shit. The grin returned, an automatic defense. "You're not in financial straights until you don't have any money at all. And you're out on the streets." That brought back some nasty memories, but the smile didn't falter.

"Duo..." he began again, but his attempt was cut off by none other than Heero Yuy.

"Duo Maxwell, you have nothing to your name save the bed you sleep in," he snapped, and Duo met his gaze for the first time since they'd arrived. Why was it that this man's re-emergence in his life always heralded disaster? "Your job consisted of taking orders and handing out Mexican food. You are in financial straights."

His jaw just dropped. Had the bastard dug into his files? He must have. How else had he found that out? And Duo had tried so hard to hide his identity. Of course, Heero was just as much a technological genius as he. It would inevitably be possible. But why? Why would Heero Yuy bother to check on lil' old Duo Maxwell?

Heero seemed to see the confusion in Duo's eyes and magically guessed at what was going through his mind. Either that or he just wanted to say it. "Miss Paisley seemed confused as to why you'd been hiding as a Preventor when I had been so up front."

Duo thought he heard his heart clunk down the street and squish underneath a car's tire. I maneuvered Quatre until he understood it was time to stand and pushed myself onto my own two feet, needing some sort of equal footing.

"She was very talkative," Wufei said shortly, and he turned his own glare on. Duo glared right back, his spine ramrod straight. It seemed to throw the Chinese man off, but he recovered quickly. "She seemed to be in awe of you, if it makes you feel better. How calm you'd been, how you'd spoken so openly to her even during a firefight, how seemingly oblivious you'd been of your wound." He had the grace to look down at Duo's bad arm with chagrin, and Duo got to watch the glare wither away. "Then she said, 'and I'd thought he was just another college student paying his way through.'"

He might have gulped.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Quatre asked again, and those eyes demanded an answer.

"I didn't want to rely on you, Qat." Which was about ninety percent of the truth and thus more than enough. His eyes flickered up to the rest before resting back on Quatre. The blond was the most important one in all this right then. "Believe me when I say that it's not because I didn't think you'd help me, or that I thought you would hold it over my head. It's just..." He blew out an agitated breath. "Everyone else has moved on. Everyone else has jobs and money, and they don' need the help. I don't want to be the leech of the group. The helpless one. I want to be able to take care of myself."

"But Duo!" he argued, and since the guy was shorter than Duo he could continue pulling that damn puppy-dog look on him, "you're injured, and the place you worked at was completely destroyed. You don't have a job! It would make sense if you-"

"Would anyone else here be having trouble right now?" Duo asked abruptly, cutting the blond, and didn't even wait for someone else to answer. "No, of course not. Heero and Wufei are fucking rich-" He thought he heard a wince in there and momentarily pitied Wufei for his angry outburst "-and Trowa would just stay out of the circus' performances for a few weeks. You, of course, would be in no trouble at all. I'm the only one who fucked up here. I'm the only one who should pay for it."

Quatre growled then and surprised him by getting up in his face. "We. Are. Friends," the blond told him roughly. "We work together. I don't give a damn if you somehow messed up on your road out of the war. I want to help you. We were in the war together, fighting side by side. Why can't we still be like that?"

Quatre's eyes were fervent, almost fierce. Like he was giving orders to us through the Zero system, or as if he was making one of his many bold declarations as head of Winner enterprises. It was difficult to argue against such conviction, especially when it sounded so... _right_. But argue I tried.

"I don't want-"

"Forget about what you want!" he yelled, and stuck his face right under Duo's, until their noses almost touched. "I don't care about what you want!"

The shock made him mouth gape open. "W-What?" He shook his head. "Qat, I'm not trying to be-"

"Just shut up, Maxwell," Quatre barked, and his mouth clamped shut almost of its own accord. "I paid all of your bills," the blond informed him. "And I'm going to stay here while you recover."

Duo started to protest, but Quatre shut him up all over again with nothing more than a glare. Another moment passed before he could try again. "Quatre, please-"

"Don't you 'please' me!" Quatre looked absolutely livid, and Duo decided to just keep his mouth closed. "The others are going to help, too." And he turned that glare on Wufei and Duo, daring them to argue. Neither did.

Seeing this, Duo decided to try one last time. "Quatre, you can't-"

"I can do what I want," he declared haughtily, and the downright wherewithal left Duo once more without words. "And we are going to help you through this, Duo Maxwell, whether you like it or not."

Duo opened his mouth, ready to protest the idea of all four of them pampering him and coddling him like a baby, but Trowa's eye caught his, and the man was just shaking his head slowly. Duo's lips thinned, but his eyes just had to catch on Heero and the glare that was being sent via airwaves straight into his skull. He hung his head and groaned.


	6. Discovery

Disclaimer - Gundam Wing is not mine. It's Heero's. *Bashes self for the bad pun* Anyway, it's not mine and I'm making no money. There you go.

* * *

Only You

Chapter 6

Discovery

* * *

Quatre led the damn entourage into his townhouse and hell if his complaints made any damn difference. He waited impatiently for Duo to unlock the door and then they were all dumping themselves into the room. Quatre was the one to attempt to flick on the lights. When they didn't come on is most likely when it hit home just what kind of situation Duo was in. Without a word Quatre left the group and hunted through the hall, checking every room, scouring the area. And thus Duo was left with the other three. He wanted to run.

The silence was absolutely creepy. If it had teeth, it would have bitten hard on every available surface of his body.

Duo shifted a bit, nervous, but that brought on a glare so monstrous from Heero that he just decided to stand at attention like a damn soldier. Trowa seemed to want to break the sharp-toothed silence but had no idea of how to go about doing such a thing. Wufei, of course, seemed perfectly content to stay in said silence and Heero... well, Heero would probably decide to shoot him – or anyone – who dared open their mouth. Maybe that was why Trowa kept quiet.

Quatre's return wasn't the good thing Duo'd hoped it would be. Those damn baby blue eyes were upset, and if he looked closely he thought he might be seeing a tear streak that had been quickly wiped clean. It made him grimace.

The blond got into Duo's face again, not even hesitating, completely ignoring the others. "If you _ever_..." And then the anger just died away and he was crushed into a hug. Duo slowly encircled his arms around the blond and hugged him back on a sigh. Qat's crushing hold said pretty much everything that needed to be said. Still, the little blond spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me? This... if I had known..."

Heero turned impatiently and began his own search of the house without a word. Duo watched him, a sense of trepidation stealing over him. Of all the people he'd known might get involved if Quatre did, Heero was the one he was most worried about. Would Heero become disgusted with him once he saw just how bad off he was financially? It was one thing to read about it, another to see. Or would the man see something of Duo's that he really didn't want him to see? He couldn't think of anything off the top of his head, but that didn't mean anything. Duo had to stop himself from biting his lip as Quatre finally let go of him.

What would Heero think of Duo after he saw just how pathetic he'd become?

Shit. He realized with a start that he was scared to death.

"Duo," Quatre said, forcing Duo's eyes back down to him, "you have no water. Or food," he added. Duo caught Wufei looking at him with such intensity he thought he was going to scream.

"Yeah, well," he responded lamely, shrugging his good shoulder and turning away from Wufei's gaze. "You can't exactly buy food and have water without money, so..." But the stricken look on Quatre's face pierced through his little monologue and he decided, once again, to just shut the hell up.

Trowa was watching Quatre, Duo noticed, and the look on the man's face was strange. Duo watched him with interest. Were he and Quatre... and item? Together? He wasn't quite sure; he'd never asked Quatre about it. But it seemed like they were close, if Trowa's gaze was any guess. Were they 'friend' close, like himself and Quatre, or were they... more?

He grinned wickedly. It was something to think about. And hold over Trowa's or Quatre's heads if they got on his case too much.

Quatre looked over Duo's shoulder and took a quick step back; Duo just barely caught something about bills and papers before the blond turned around and walked rather quickly to the door. He could only blink at his friend's suddenly retreating back. He turned to Trowa for some input, knowing there should have another lecture and some coddling involved before solitude should have been returned to him, but he was busy pulling a _very_ reluctant Wufei out the door. He stared at his door. Maybe the others _had_ been cloned, after all.

And then there was a very familiar heat on the back of his skull and he groaned deep in his throat.

He turned pretty slowly, as if he were giving some sort of theater performance. Heero's eyes were burning a hole in his head, and if he were to compare he'd say that it reminded him of Cyclops' little laser-beam eyes. He had a bad feeling that told him he and Heero were about to have it out. No wonder Quatre's made a beeline for the exit. Lucky bastard.

Heero stepped forward menacingly, and Duo rather predictably took a hasty step back. Heero was moving forward then, practically a blur, and before Duo could properly react the man had grabbed Duo's left arm roughly. Then came the short struggle to free himself, and he might have had a chance in hell if he hadn't started fighting against the hold like a little kid. Something in Heero's eyes had changed and Duo found that he didn't really _want_ to escape anymore.

Heero's iron grip loosened, but he stepped forward, effectively entering Duo's space. There was... something odd about the Perfect Soldier now, something that Duo had never seen before.

"Hee... Heero?"

His hesitant voice seemed to snap the man out of his trance, and he dragged Duo into his own little kitchenette or whatever one called a closet with an oven and glared at him in pure fury. "Where do you see food?" he hissed, and Duo winced at the tone.

Duo looked away from that face and pretended to take a look around before shrugging negligently with his good shoulder. "There're a couple pieces of bread in the-"

"That couldn't feed a fucking rat," he snarled, and the glare was turned up a notch, if that was even possible. Duo's eyes widened; he couldn't really recall all that many times Heero had cursed, and it was kind've scary to have it said to him.

"Actually," Duo started, because hell if he was going to let Heero's attitude ever slow him down in the slightest, "it might just sustain the-"

But he was cut off again. "What in the _hell_ were you thinking when you left Quatre out of this?!"

"I already said this, Heero." His voice turned a bit clipped. Damn but that little comment had hurt a bit more than he'd been ready for. He'd left Quatre out of it. Not them. Not _him_. Quatre. "I didn't want everyone to be fawning over poor, pathetic little Maxwell."

Heero looked about ready to inflict physical pain before something strange flickered through those eyes again, something Duo couldn't quite decipher, and suddenly Heero let go of his arm and reached in as if to grab his shoulders, most likely to shake him. Or maybe strangle him.

"Arm!" Duo shouted on reflex. He managed to back away a little as Heero froze. He glared at the cast, then at Duo again. It made him flash on a dumb grin. "Shake me later, Heero." His voice was light, easy; he started to maneuver himself to the side, a little further away from Heero.

Was it even surprising that Heero blocked him? "What... what the hell do you plan to eat?"

He was stuck blinking up at Heero. He'd seriously thought that since the tirade was over, the man's communication would naturally shrink back down to the absolute minimum. "Uhm, actually," he said, and his surprise and wariness were practically painted on his voice, "call me silly, but I was thinking about eating the bread. You know, because it's the only food in the house?"

Hell if he hadn't managed to turn that glare back on. "Duo," Heero growled, but then he cleared his throat until his voice was almost civil, "I can... we can go out."

Duo gaped. "To eat?"

Heero's rather droll look informed him on just how intelligent Heero though that question was. "Yes. To eat."

Duo just stared. Go out? With Heero? _The_ Heero? Mr. Perfect Soldier, live for the mission, get-away-from-my-laptop Yuy? The Heero who had once said that going out wasn't safe, the one should stick to the mission and think about nothing more? The one who was so damn anti-social the idea of talking to his classmates was somewhat abhorrent to him?

Like hell he was letting this one go to waste.

He quirked up a real grin for the man and slung a tired arm around his neck, just like old times. "Sure!"


	7. Reality Check

Okay, I'm really sorry about the huge wait, but I swear that I am an innocent in all of this. Honestly. I'm just gonna go straight to the story.  
  
*Warning* - There is shonen ai hints of 1x2 and 3x4. There is cursing, angst, and ... uhh ... oh! A little bit of Relena bashing. There. You've been warned.  
  
Disclaimer - The Gundam boys don't belong to me. Miss Paisley and Sharon do. So there. Taco Bell is also not mine.  
  
Only You  
  
Chapter 8  
  
I looked at the massive building and gaped a bit. It must've been seven stories high. At least. I turned to look at the impassive Heero, who was walking in front of me, seemingly not noticing that I had stopped. "This is a restaurant?"  
  
Heero turned back to me. "Yes. A real restaurant. Unlike Taco Bell."  
  
"Oh, you're just too funny," I quipped. Reluctantly, I followed him into the 'restaurant'. There was a man standing about three feet in front of us, and he turned from his partner behind the counter when the door shut behind us.  
  
"Welcome," he said warmly. "Mister Yuy, will you be dining here again tonight?" I looked at Heero quizzically, but he ignored me and nodded. "Then go ahead to the elevator, sir," the waiter-guy said, and Heero led me to said elevator.  
  
I kept my eyes trained on Heero's back while he pressed the `up' button and as he waited. Eventually, I knew, he'd get annoyed. Sure enough ...  
  
"WHAT?!" he turned on me with his infamous glare, which I studiously ignored. "Do you come here often, Hee-chan?"  
  
"Don't. Call. Me. That," he hissed.  
  
"Whatever you say, Hee-chan."  
  
I think I heard him growl. The elevator door opened, and we stepped inside. When the doors closed behind us, I turned back to Heero. "So? Do you come here very often?"  
  
Heero shook his head. "No."  
  
I blinked for a second, expecting him to expand. I mentally smacked myself. Again, who was I with? I'd have to interrogate the guy to get the shortest of answers. "So ... how did the guy remember you? Oh! Wait! I know! It was your charming personality." I slanted Heero a glance. "Am I right?"  
  
Heero's mouth twitched. "No."  
  
I sighed, exasperated. "Then what?"  
  
"I left them a nice tip."  
  
"Ah," I said plainly. "Yup, that'll do it." I stopped talking to Heero long enough to look around the elevator and ended up staring out the glass wall to the diminishing ground below. "How many stories are we going up?"  
  
"Seven."  
  
"Damn, I'm good," I muttered, and watched an old couple make their way across the parking lot.  
  
"How so?"  
  
I turned to see Heero smirking at me. "I thought the building was seven stories high. What are the other levels used for?"  
  
Heero shrugged. "How should I know?"  
  
I imitated his shrug. "I don't know. I guess I'm still used to you being the Perfect Soldier. I mean, with you in the Preventers, my mind just keeps seeing you as a soldier."  
  
Heero remained silent.  
  
"Heero?" I think the only reason he turned his gaze on me was that funny choking noise that came out of my mouth. I refused to give him the time to ask why and how it had slipped out. I didn't give him time to say anything. "That ... in the hospital, when I said that ... thing ... when I brushed you off. I'm really sorry about that."  
  
Heero's face showed pure, genuine surprise, and something oddly warm settled in those cobalt orbs. I could swear that my body just melted into some puddle. A small smile settled on his face, and as the elevator door opened, he was washed in a golden light from the lights in the lobby. "It's ... okay, Duo."  
  
Joy spread through me like mercury, setting my body on fire. "Heero ..."  
  
Someone coughed, and we both turned as if the sound had been gunfire. My face flamed at the sight of a woman in a waitress' uniform trying to get us off the elevator. Heero just smiled at her, and her face immediately lit up. "Mister Yuy, it's wonderful to see you again. How are you?"  
  
"Well," he said, and grabbed my good arm. He literally dragged me out into the lobby, and the woman smiled at me. I blushed harder.  
  
"I know the lobby is large, but don't let that intimidate you."  
  
I looked at her in shock. She must have known what had been going on in that elevator. Then again, what *had* been going on in that elevator? Were Heero and I just talking, or were we getting ready to ... to ...  
  
"Duo!" I sighted Heero a few yards ahead of me and rushed to catch up. "Duo, what were you thinking about?"  
  
I shook my head. There was no way I was going to tell Heero that I was imagining his lips roving over mine. "Nothing."  
  
"Now you're the one clamming up," Heero told me, and I realized that he was right.  
  
"Oh, pardon my Heero," I said, and surprised a laugh out of him. I basked in the sound. In the knowledge that I had made the infamous Heero Yuy laugh. "You have a nice laugh," I said, and bit my lip to shut myself up. I peeked up through my bangs to see if he'd heard.  
  
"You're the third person to say that," he said musingly. "I guess I should let myself out a bit more ..." Something haunted came into his eyes. His despair brought my own sadness crashing onto me. There was no way I was letting Heero be sad.  
  
"The ... third?" I parroted dumbly as we were seated, hoping that would bring some sort of change in Heero's attitude. "Are ... the other two alive or dead?" I mentally slapped myself. What a wonderful way to get his mind off of bad thoughts.  
  
Heero shot me a look, though not THE look. "Yes, Duo," he answered, and his voice said that he was indulging a five-year-old.  
  
"Who were they? Are they," I corrected myself. "Who are they?"  
  
"Quatre and Relena," he told me, and her name sort of killed my already weakened good mood.   
  
"Relena, huh?" I said, pretending indifference. "Speaking of which, are you two an item yet? Did I miss the wedding?"  
  
Heero looked at me with what seemed to be horror. "W-Wedding?" He shook his head. "No, Duo," he said, and his voice was light and teasing. "You haven't missed the wedding yet. But tell me, what would you bring to our wedding?"  
  
A gun with extra clips, to make sure she's dead when you finally decide to kill her, I thought, but didn't quite think that answer would go over well. "Gee, I dunno, Heero. Maybe a sticky note reminding you to put the seat down," I joked.  
  
Heero groaned. "You haven't forgotten about that *yet*?"  
  
I laughed. "Nope, and I won't. The great Heero Yuy, the best soldier in the entire solar system, the most respected man in the Preventers agency - or else, should be - was never taught to put the toilet seat down."  
  
Another cough sounded, and we both jumped. The waitress was back, and she was looking at Heero with a pitying expression on her face. I watched in no small fascination as Heero's skin went crimson. "Same as last time," he muttered, almost too softly to hear.  
  
I turned to her and winked. "I'll take the chicken and broccoli alfredo," I said with an innocent smile. "Please," I added.  
  
She nodded. "Two chicken and broccoli alfredos, coming up."  
  
"Two?" I said, and twisted around to face Heero as the waitress left. "You like it, too? I didn't think anyone else had even heard of it before. It's a really old recipe."  
  
Heero smiled. "They specialize with old recipes here. That's why I like this place." He cocked his head. "How do you know about that stuff? You don't seem the type."  
  
"It was the first real food I ate," I explained. "Professor G introduced me to it."  
  
"'First real food'?" he echoed, and seemed to be waiting for a clarification.  
  
I shrugged. "Growing up a street rat, you don't have many gourmet meals. Then, at Father Maxwell's, we didn't exactly have bushels of money, you know?"  
  
"Street rat?"  
  
"Oh, please! I knew you never listened to what I said back during the war! I must've told you like a billion times." I lifted an eyebrow in mock severity. "That's not becoming for a Preventer."  
  
"Hn."  
  
Oh, gods. Not again.  
  
The waitress - I quickly scanned her name tag and found her name to be Sharon - surprised me by bringing drinks. I smiled and took a sip, surprised again to find that it was Mountain Dew. She left and I swung my head to Heero. "I don't remember ordering this."  
  
"You didn't," he told me, and I sat there, baffled. I watched him drink his mineral water. "I ordered it for you."  
  
How did he know what I liked to drink? And just when in the hell had he ordered it?? "Thanks." I took another sip, trying to figure the Perfect Soldier out. "Hey, Heero?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Did you know that there's a `Return' button on that elevator?"  
  
Heero gave me a strange look. "A what?"  
  
"A `Return' button," I repeated. "I wonder what it's used for? I've never seen one before."  
  
Heero shook his head. "You always did have a lot of curiosity. And you always forget what happened to that cat."  
  
I made a face. "Yeah, but that was a cat. I happen to be human."  
  
Heero continued to stare at me until our salads came. There was a special sauce on them already, which explained the lack of questioning on our choice of dressing. I immediately dug in, all too aware of Heero's intense gaze.  
  
He silently got into his meal, and the only sounds were the other people talking and the scraping of the fork on the plate. Okay, the fork was me. I was purposely trying to be irritating.  
  
"Duo ..." The warning came in a low voice, but was very clear. I had noticed that people were starting to stare, and Heero never liked that.  
  
"So ... what were we talking about?" I asked, and I hoped that Brain Boy could get the hint.  
  
Heero sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it. Just stop the noise."  
  
I stopped instantly.  
  
He sighed again. "We were vainly trying to find something to talk about."  
  
"Vainly?" I prompted.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"A wonderful conversation, Hee-chan," I noted.  
  
"Don't call me that."  
  
"What? Oh, Hee-chan?"  
  
"Yes, that."  
  
"Okay, Hee-chan."  
  
Heero growled. "Duo, omae o ..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know." I grinned impishly and finished off my salad, looking to the kitchen and urging the woman to come quicker. This was a bit difficult. It's always difficult to get Heero involved in any conversation other than a mission. "We were talking about my life as a street rat, weren't we?" I prodded, and his eyes sharpened.  
  
"I thought you didn't want to talk about that."  
  
"Why not? I'm not embarrassed. I was a damn *good* street rat."  
  
Heero shook his head. "I don't understand you."  
  
"Oh, good. I don't want to bore anybody."  
  
Heero opened his mouth to say something, but a beeping noise interrupted him. He looked down and grimaced. "Excuse me, Duo," he said, and stood. I watched him get up and leave with a sense of impending doom. I couldn't explain it, but I knew something was wrong. I could feel it, inside me.  
  
Not two minutes later, Heero was walking back to our table at a record clip. "Duo, something's come up," he informed me. "I need to go."  
  
I caught on instantaneously. It was his mission. Miss Paisley. "Understood," I said. "I'll come with you."  
  
Heero looked at my left arm and shook his head. "No. I can't put you in that position. You're a civilian now, Duo. You aren't a Preventer."  
  
"I don't care. I want to help."  
  
"You'd be of no help to me whatsoever injured," he snapped, and spun around to leave.  
  
"Heero, dammit, I -"  
  
"No!" he barked, and people turned to stare. "No," he repeated, more gently this time. "Please, stay here. Enjoy your meal."  
  
Stunned, I could do no more than stare after him as he left. I turned back to the table, feeling incredibly foolish. We were having a civil conversation. I was even having fun. And then he was called away. Just like that, everything changed. I looked at Sharon, who was coming up to the table. "Where's Mister Yuy?" she asked, and I suddenly felt sick.  
  
I noticed two twenty dollar bills on the table and fought back my nausea. Heero was on the battlefield. Sure, he'd been on the battlefield before. Thousands of times.  
  
And I'd felt this way during every single one of those missions.  
  
I stood and gave Sharon a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry," I said, "but could you just ... I dunno. I've got to go." I looked at the food in her hand and felt ill for letting it go to waste. I just wasn't hungry anymore. "Could you put that someplace that it can be saved in, and take it to a shelter, please? I don't want to waste it. Here." I handed her one of my own twenties. "For the trouble."  
  
"Both you and Mister Yuy are the same," she said with a smile. "You're both very kind."  
  
Something inside me churned.  
  
"Thank you," I breathed, and left. I took the elevator down without thinking about the `Return' button. Heero's car was gone, which was to be expected. I numbly walked a few blocks to the bus stop and sat on the bench. Thankfully, I was the only one waiting there. The sign said that the next pick-up was in twenty minutes. During those twenty minutes, I think I dozed. Or zoned out. Or something. The honk of a horn woke me with a start.  
  
"Duo!" The call was Quatre's, and I saw him waving to me in a car. Trowa sat at the wheel. "Heero called us. We've been looking for you."  
  
"Heero called you?" It made sense. Heero never left anything up to chance. He'd make sure I got back to my apartment safe. "Aren't you busy?"  
  
"No, we're okay, Duo," Trowa told me, and I got up and hopped into the car. "We were actually taking a day off from all the office detail."  
  
"We?" I asked, buckling my seat belt. Quatre, ever cautious, waited until he heard the click before letting Trowa get us on the road. "You, too?"  
  
I could've sworn he blushed. "I pitch in a bit," he admitted.  
  
"That's hardly fair," Quatre said. "You do a lot more work than anyone else. And you aren't paid. I should see about that."  
  
"It's no big deal," Trowa murmured, and I witnessed his scarlet face darken still.  
  
I laughed. "C'mon, Trowa, helping someone out isn't a bad thing!" I waggled my eyebrows. "Especially if it gives you a good excuse to hang around them."  
  
Trowa's face seemed to have caught fire.  
  
"Duo!" Quatre admonished, but he laughed. "Oh, Trowa," he said on a helpless laugh, "it seems the jig is up." He turned to me. "Have you told anyone?"  
  
"Quatre," I pointed out, "it's only been about an hour since that fiasco at my apartment."  
  
He nodded. "Please don't say anything," he begged, and I shrugged.  
  
"Hey, it's none of my business."  
  
"Duo," Trowa threatened, and I put up my hands.  
  
"I won't tell anyone." I leaned back in my seat. "Then again, if our friends don't agree, then ... are they really our friends?"  
  
Trowa glanced into the rearview mirror as Quatre twisted his body to stare at me in shock.  
  
I grinned my `imp' grin and closed my eyes.  
  
Silence reigned for a good many minutes before ... "Thanks, Duo."  
  
I opened one eye and smiled warmly at Trowa. "Hey, no problem, Tro."  
  
*  
  
I walked into my house and listened to Quatre and Trowa drive away. I studied the light switch beside me as if it would have a post-it saying if it worked yet or not. I decided to leave it and walked into my kitchen. I pulled back a chair and sat at the table, resigning myself to a long wait. I stared at the phone and ordered it to ring and tell me that the package was secured and the party is unharmed. Or something to that effect. I only hoped the damned thing worked. I flicked the kitchen light and was momentarily blinded. Satisfied, I flicked it back off.  
  
"Heero ..."  
  
Better to think of the conversation that we'd been sharing than of what could be happening to Heero. Better to think of Heero's beautiful laugh than to imagine him going up in flames, or being torn apart by machine gun fire. Don't imagine him screaming in agony as he -  
  
No. Best not to think about that.  
  
"What am I going to do with you, Heero?" My head fell in-between my knees. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the tight grip of fear that squeezed my heart. "Heero ..."  
  
*  
  
It was dark out. A beetle scuttled by my feet. I looked up and saw bumblebees buzzing above my head. I turned, trying to find someone. Someone to explain where I was. There was no one.  
  
A sense of panic gripped me, and I turned again. Nothing. Nothing but the bees above and the beetle staring at me below.  
  
Something permeated in the air and I coughed. My eyes stung; my throat burned. Tear gas!  
  
The beetle looked up at me, and from nowhere - not from me, not from the bees, just from nowhere - a teardrop fell and landed on the beetle.  
  
BRING!!! BRING!!!  
  
"Uugh," I groaned, and opened my gritty eyes. I stared at the phone, and my mind muted the incessant noise. What had that dream been about? It was perhaps the stupidest thing my mind had made up, and that said a helluva lot.  
  
I heard my answering machine pick up the call. "This is not an answering machine," I heard my voice say, "this is a thought-recording device. Please think about your name, number, and reason for calling, and I'll think about returning your call. Thank you."  
  
Beep!  
  
There was a tired chuckle on the other end of the line. "Hey, Duo."  
  
I snatched up the phone, out of my daze in an instant after hearing that voice. "Heero?!"  
  
"Yes, it's me. I was calling to let you know that the package is se -"  
  
"That's nice," I spoke, cutting him off. "Are you okay?"  
  
I heard Heero laugh, and my heart did a somersault, which didn't help my nauseous stomach. "Yes, Wufei and I are fine. I like your answering machine, too."  
  
I grinned. "Cool, isn't it?" I tried to regulate my breathing. He's okay. Of course he's okay. You baka.  
  
"Yeah. Duo, did you eat your meal?"  
  
"Huh?" I tried to catch up. "Oh. No, I didn't really have an appetite." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Heero, I'm a rat. A night on salad is actually really nice."  
  
"You're not a rat."  
  
He said it immediately, as if instantly protesting, without a thought to it. "Sure I am," I laughed. "I just don't have that disgusting tail."  
  
"Duo ..." There was anguish in his voice, I could swear it. It was strange, but it made me smile. It was nice to dream thedse things, at least. Dream of the things that his changes might mean.  
  
"Heero, it's okay. It doesn't get me down."  
  
"You shouldn't talk about yourself like that. You helped to save the whole Earth Sphere."  
  
"I *helped* you learn how to bail someone out of a mess. That's about it."  
  
"Duo, you ..."  
  
I smiled sweetly. Believe it or not, you can actually hear facial expressions through a phone. "Yes?"  
  
"You helped, Duo. More than you know. You did slow Oz, Romefeller, whatever ... you slowed them down. And ... you helped me."  
  
My smile turned a bit more genuine. "Oh? And how was that, Hee-chan?"  
  
"DON'T CALL ... WHATever." Heero hefted a huge sigh. "You helped me, Duo. That's all I'm going to say."  
  
"What a surprise," I remarked, and deigned to roll my eyes. "So are you going to be back soon?"  
  
"No."  
  
I paused, taking that into consideration. "Understood."  
  
Heero seemed to smile. "Thank you, Duo. I'll see you soon."  
  
We hung up, and I grinned. "You'll see me sooner than you think, Hee-chan." I went to my bedroom to get ready for another of those damned suicide adventures Heero seemed so fond of.  
  
*  
  
A/N: Hope that was enough for this chapter. I'm really, really sorry for the HUGE delay. Damn this computer. Anyway, there you go. For those of you who are wondering about that button on the elevator ... well ... we'll get to that. Eventually. Probably many, many chapters later. Heheheheheheheh ...  
  
And as for the dream ... yes, those things actually had significance. If you care, go ahead and tell me in a review (HINT) and I'll let you all know. ^_^ I hope everyone had a nice holiday, and Happy New Year, everybody!!!  
  
And, just to let you know, I DON'T KNOW how Duo will know where Heero is. Maybe he hacked into Preventers' files or something. There.  
  
And I'm really sorry for not being around. I'm here now, Thank God. And we have a day off school tomorrow for Election Day, so I'm hoping to have more time on this computer. Mother's taken over, so I'm gonna have a tough time getting on. Review if you're still here! I'm really sorry! 


	8. Forests and Memories

Hi! I'm finally back! Murder me if you want, but then there'd be no chance of me updating ever! I'm supremely upset with how little time I have on the comp, now that it's working again. There are three people fighting for this thing, and school is throwing homework and projects until I'm buried under all of the damn paperwork.  
  
*Warning* - There is a lot of angst, and Duo memories that hint at spoilers for Episode Zero, but don't really hit on the things in there. There is also angst, sadness, and ... wow ... of course, there's cursing and all that jazz, but that's it. O_O Wow.  
  
Disclaimer - They aren't mine. Nothing is. Except my anime. And you'll have to pry that from my cold, dead fingers!  
  
Only You  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Duo stepped off of the bus briskly, whistling an old song sung by Evanescence. It was a song of anguish and turmoil, and he damn well liked it. His fingers fiddled in his pocket, noting the only other measly thing inside - his last twenty. He'd been lucky enough to score a whopping forty-five bucks in just that one day. He wanted to smack himself for giving Sharon that other twenty, but hindsight was the thing that was always 20/20. You never gained experience until just after you needed it.  
  
Duo found his thoughts dropping depressingly and switched songs, now humming a Japanese song. Heero would probably flip if he knew Duo took any sort of interest in Japan. Duo played with the thought as he twisted through alleys and shadows in the dark, dark night of very early morning. His eyes constantly scanned the flickering movements around him, old habits kicking in unconsciously. His good hand was poised over his hunting knife, which was strapped to his leg. It would be out in a second if needed. His other arm was held protectively to his chest, making it almost impossible for an enemy to hit without coming directly into Duo's line of sight.  
  
He knew that Heero was going to be pissed beyond measure when he showed up at the safehouse. He also knew that the man's first concern would be the mission. So, he took care to cover his tracks. He'd taken at least 3 buses, walking from one town to another before taking another one. It was almost three or four in the morning. He had sold his watch to make the rent, so he had no exact clue. Besides, did it really matter when he decided to show up and scare Heero shitless?  
  
He touched his arm and looked up at the stars wonderingly. What was it like, far away from Earth, maybe in a different galaxy altogether? What would that be like?  
  
It was something he had thought about when he was a kid, staring up into the ebony night as the stars sparkled at him. He usually found himself unable to sleep back then, always aware of every minute sound made. He never really thought about it like he was daydreaming, only that he was seeking a sort of refuge, and that it wasn't on L2, and that it couldn't be anywhere near here, like Earth, so it had to be up there somewhere. Solo had caught him gazing at them one time.  
  
////////***////////  
  
`What're ya doin', kid?'  
  
`Heya, Solo.'  
  
`So? Ya gonna answer me?'  
  
`Just tryin' to find ... I dunno ... a home, I guess.'  
  
`We're da closest ta a family you'll find, Dodger.'  
  
He had sighed. `I know, Solo.'  
  
`Get some rest, kid. It'll be a big day `morrow.'  
  
`Right.'  
  
////////***////////  
  
Duo sighed and looked around. He should be fairly close to the safehouse by now. He had been traveling on foot for a while now. He wished he had a watch. Unlike Heero, he didn't have a mental clock ticking behind his ears. All he had was the moon, which was slowly descending. The sky was beginning to turn gray. It was time to get out of the alleys, where he was easily cornered. Time to steal food from the opening shops.  
  
He shook his head, amazed at how quickly his body and mind had reverted back to the street days. He half expected Solo to pop from a corner and tell him that they had selected a target. But Solo was dead. Dead and rotting in a pathetic grave dug by a kid with long brown hair that had quickly grown up.  
  
Duo found that he had long given up the Japanese tune for Evanescence again and just gave up. He took a winding path through another alley and cut through a motel, just in case someone was tagging him. He went through the motel, came out the back - no one was in to notice him, and he was dead careful with the alarms - and hiked up a hill, then waded in a river for a while. He looked at the forest on the right and shrugged, stepping out of the water to jog over to the thicket, quickly losing himself in the foliage.  
  
Birds seemed to be awakening as he jumped into the trees and acted like a monkey, swinging himself from one oak to another, almost losing his balance as his left arm couldn't act as a balancing rod. He sat on a thick branch and watched the sun rise. If his contacts were right, he was only a mile or so from Heero now. His stomach quivered a bit as he thought of Heero's reaction to his arrival. He definitely wouldn't be happy. Duo would be more of a hindrance.  
  
But he couldn't just sit home and wait. He'd rather be shot ... again. Quatre would come over, and he would drag Trowa, and Duo would be trapped with the two and would be completely under their command. Guilt would follow him enough as it was. He didn't need any more reason to hate himself. Besides, it would kill him to be waiting for Heero, unable to know what was going on with him, to see if he was alright, or know if there was anything he could have done to help.  
  
So, his decision reinforced, he gently slid from the branch and walked carefully, sidestepping twigs and dead leaves. He wanted to be as quiet as possible, lest he had pursuers. Heero would be beyond pissed if he brought the enemy to the doorstep with him. He didn't want that. Miss Paisley was a nice, sweet woman. She reminded him a little of Sister Helen.  
  
////////***////////  
  
`Oh! Duo, there you are!' Sister Helen called, and Duo stopped and turned to her, his journey to the pews halted. He was secretly grateful that she'd shown up. He wanted to prolong his chores as long as possible. Oh, he could shoulder his own weight, but that didn't mean that he had to enjoy doing the mundane chores like waxing the pews. Bor-ing.  
  
`What is it, Sister?' he asked, also glad that it was Sister Helen who'd caught him. Just because he liked her. She was nice. Actually, she was the one who had not only shown him how to put his hair in a braid, she had also given him back his self-confidence and self-esteem, when he'd lost it after a boy at the school had told him he smelled like a sewer. She, with Father Maxwell, had taken up Solo's place in his life. They were everything.  
  
`Oh, I was hoping you could take care of a mouse in my room. You're the only one I know who won't want to hurt it.'  
  
An animal! Duo's eyes brightened, then dimmed as he looked at the rows of pews that lay before him.  
  
She noticed and smiled at him. `If you get it out of my room, I promise to do the waxing.'  
  
Tempting. But unfair. `Naw, I'll do both. I'll be back soon, Sister.'  
  
He raced off to take care of the mouse, and came back later to find the pews gleaming from a new, waxy shine. He repaid the debt by getting rid of all the mice. From then on was a sort of challenge between one another to see what they could do for the other.  
  
It had been his turn that night.  
  
////////***////////  
  
He found himself sinking into a dark depression that always came with these memories. They were horribly bittersweet. He found himself, once again, going over what he could have done different, better, to save them. But there was nothing. And everything. Run faster. Been smarter. Had them leave the church.  
  
It all left him horribly empty. Would they be alive if he'd done just the smallest thing better? And where would he be now, if they were? Would he have ever met Heero?  
  
Then he saw the safehouse looming before him, daunting in its horrible familiarity. How many places just like this had he sheltered inside during the war? And how many times had he slept in places far worse?  
  
The place was disgustingly simple. A tiny log cabin in the heart of Nowhere-ville. A stream trickled behind it, and trees surrounded it. He stepped silently up to it, staring at the wooden door for a long moment. He blew out an exasperated breath and berated himself. Him standing out here would only attract attention that could not be attracted for the safety of Miss Paisley. He lifted his hand to knock, emboldened by the thought.  
  
The door was flung open, and the muzzle of a gun was thrown against his forehead. He kept his soldier's instincts in check, making sure he stood stock still. He saw, above the nozzle, cobalt eyes widen in shock and a little horror. The gun finally dropped away from his head.  
  
"Just what the fuck are you doing here?!"  
  
*  
  
A/N: Sorry it's so short, especially after all this time. The advancements I make in my stories will be slow, because school really is taking over. It's everything I have to be maintaining B's and, in Math, a C. So here you go for now. I'm terribly sorry for the incredible wait, but there's little I can do about it. *Sighs* Oh, well. Anyway, please review. If you give me a date to get the next one out, I'll strive to get it out around there.  
  
Take care, and be good!!! ^_^;;; 


	9. Score!

Hi! I'm back! I also have a wonderful new beta, Dragen Eyes. Whatever mistakes may be left are still mine, however, and I'll apologize for all the ones I've had, and the ones I'll still have.  
  
Beta Reader: HI!!! *goes back to work making corrections about ... nothing*  
  
*Warning* - There is serious cursing, some angst, and practically nothing else, actually. Don't be so surprised! There'll be plenty to make up for it in later chapters, I promise! We're finally going to get into the action stuff! Oh, and there's some French. It means `one for you and one for you!' There you go!  
  
Disclaimer - These people are not mine except for Miss Paisley, and she's actually owned by Ai, my sap muse. *sigh*  
  
Only You  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Duo gulped. It was the Glare 2000, back and better than ever. He smiled weakly. "Uhh ... hi?"  
  
Heero growled. "I said, what the fuck are you doing here?"  
  
"Right now, I'm standing outside where everybody can see me, waiting for a guy with blue eyes and brown hair to let me the hell into the cabin before I get caught." Duo waggled his eyebrows. "Sooo ..."  
  
Heero snorted in disgust and moved aside. Duo accepted the action as an invitation and stepped inside before he could change his mind.  
  
A blonde head turned towards him and smiled warmly. "Duo!" It was Miss Paisley. "I was wondering if you'd be coming!"  
  
Duo shot Heero a glance, but Heero was too busy looking pissed to realize he wanted to know why she still thought of him as an agent. He shrugged and smiled at her. "I was delayed." He waved his arm as a silent explanation, not explaining any more. He let her draw her own conclusions.  
  
Her brow puckered in a frown, her lips following suit. "Are you alright? I'm not certain it's very safe ..."  
  
He shrugged and laughed. "That never stopped me before!" He caught the deadly LOOK sent in his direction, but chose to ignore it. He looked around the tiny room. It looked cozy, if nothing else. There were two lounge chairs and a fireplace that was running as he watched, the flames licking at the wood as it burned brightly, lighting the dark room as the dawn crept inside.  
  
"Homey," he remarked, plopping down in the closest chair, near to where Miss Paisley sat in the other one. He smirked at Heero. As long as Miss Paisley stayed in the room, he wouldn't have to hear the riot act. Maybe he should glue himself to her ... no, too awkward when they needed a bathroom break.  
  
He heard footsteps coming and braced himself for the next explosion.  
  
He wasn't disappointed. "Maxwell?! What in hell are you doing here?!"  
  
He grinned defiantly at Wufei, who had come in juggling three cups of coffee. "You just couldn't keep me away, Wufie," he told his old ally. "I'm like a weed. You just can't get rid of me." He stood up and took two of the cups from his hands, knowing that Wufei could hardly juggle as good as him. Even with one hand, he could carry a couple. He turned to Heero and grinned broadly, seeing the glare still trapped on the man's face. "Un pour vous," he grinned, then turned to Miss Paisley, "et un pour vous!" She giggled, and he considered his job done. He leaned against the wall, letting Wufei take the chair.  
  
"And how many times have I told you not to call me that, Maxwell," Wufei growled, glaring at him.  
  
Duo sighed. He was getting reamed on both sides, even without them yelling at him. He couldn't win. "Many a time, Wufie my man, but that don't mean I'm gonna stop!" he drawled, choosing to let his street lingo slip through. It sometimes slipped out, especially after he took strolls down memory lane.  
  
"Maxwell ..." It was a warning.  
  
"Yup?"  
  
Miss Paisley broke the growing tension easily. "I take it you aren't supposed to be here?"  
  
And added more to it.  
  
Shit. "Nope. I'm not supposed to go anywhere with this arm of mine." He looked at Heero then, trying to convey his need to be near. "But I couldn't just leave you here with these two. I've gone mad with that torture before." He grinned reassuringly at her, and she smiled at him gratefully. "They're always so ... silent and businesslike. It's disgusting."  
  
"They are awful ... quiet." She looked at them apologetically.  
  
"Quiet? Hah! They hardly speak! It's like they're robots!" He laughed sardonically.  
  
"Maxwell ..."  
  
"Duo ..."  
  
He winced. Oh, shit. "See? One won't even say my first name ..."  
  
"At least I speak it correctly!" Wufei fumed. Duo watched him in amazement. He hadn't said -  
  
"Such injustice!"  
  
Never mind.  
  
Duo watched Heero instead. The Japanese Preventor was tense, ready to burst. "Hey, Wufei, why don't you take Miss Paisley upstairs or something? Heero and I need to ... talk. Could you do that for me?"  
  
Wufei looked between them and nodded quickly. "Madam?"  
  
"Oh! Of course!" The two placed down their cooling cups and stood, leaving the room quickly. It wouldn't do much if a scream fest came, but at least they weren't trapped in the middle of it. He watched them, knowing he'd just dug his own grave.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing here? I will *not* ask again." Heero's voice was cold and low. He was pissed beyond reason.  
  
"Heero, I made sure I wasn't followed. You know me better than that. I'd never bring the enemy in with me." He was babbling, but he couldn't quite make himself stop. "I just needed to be here. All I was doing was sitting at home staring at the phone and praying I'd get a phone call from you, saying that everything was okay. I couldn't take the waiting, the not knowing. It was horrible. I had to know you were okay. I-" He blushed. "I wanted to be here near you, to try to help, even if I couldn't help much. I'm not completely useless; I'll bet I've bonded with that woman in these few minutes more than you two did over this whole time you've been with her. And I could-"  
  
"Were you even thinking about your *condition* when you rashly decided to come here?"  
  
Duo ignored the warning growl that told him it'd be best to shut up. "Of course I did, Yuy, I'm not that fucking stupid. I know that I'm definitely not one-hundred percent, but I had to come here. I just had to."  
  
"I could kill you for this."  
  
"Yeah, but now it would be illegal. And I don't think that that's something poor Miss Paisley needs to see right now. Help me out, Heero. I know you aren't thrilled with the prospect of being cooped up with me like in the war, but I promise I'll stay out of your hair. I won't even leave my room if-"  
  
"There are no more rooms."  
  
Well. That posed a problem. "I'll bunk with Miss-"  
  
"There are two rooms. Wufei is with Miss Paisley. I'm alone."  
  
Well. That posed a huge fucking problem, didn't it? "So, I'll sleep down here."  
  
"On the floor? In your condition? You'd fuck yourself up worse."  
  
"I could sleep in the chair," he pointed out.  
  
"Out of the option." Heero looked at him for a long moment, then his glare softened a bit. "What made you think I couldn't handle myself?"  
  
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But I just ..." He found himself digging his ass deeper and just shut the hell up. "I was ..." He had been worried. It seemed fairly stupid now, but he knew he'd be worrying himself sick if he were still cooped up at home. Because he was falling all over again. Hard and fast. And he just had to with him. For as long as he could. Before Heero could leave him like he'd tucked tail and run before.  
  
"Finish your sentences, or you're leaving, and you can find someplace comfortable on the streets."  
  
Duo perked up cheerfully. "I can do that, too!"  
  
Heero looked at him in horror. "No!" He then caught what Duo'd tricked him into and glared at him again. "Fine. You can stay." His nostrils flared. "But if you do anything to-"  
  
"I'm not gonna fuck up the mission, Yuy," Duo said in agitation. "Duh."  
  
Heero studied him for long moments before walking off silently. Duo watched him, feeling upset that Heero believed him foolhardy enough to do such a thing, and that he hadn't been worried about HIM. But there was a good thing that came of it. He was allowed to stay.  
  
Score!  
  
*  
  
A/N: A poor ending, but I've run out of time tonight. I need to get ready for school tomorrow. *sigh* Yes, I'm still in school. *sighs again* Review? Please?  
  
*hugs Dragen Eyes* She's such a great beta! Every one bow before her! ^_^;; Anyway ... Yeah. *points to the last two sentences in above paragraph* Do as it says. You know you want to! ::sweatdrops:: 


	10. Dangers of the Forest

Hi! I'm finally back! Kanashii and Ai deserted me, so I'm alone to try to write for a bit. In other words, I'm having a little writer's block. Gomen!  
  
Beta Reader (Dragen Eyes)::: and I'm still here! I like it here! Much better than being a muse..then you get hurt..and yelled at and tortured. shudders well..okay.. so I might if I decided to be lazy and not read this.. but I'm a good beta-reader and read this the first chance I get (which sadly was not yesterday GOMEN!!)  
  
Gently bops her one It's quite alright, Dragen Eyes. Let's see, two weeks or one day? Who's worse???  
  
Warning - Uhh ... cursing. Sap. Angst. Some sad stuff. Not much more. sighs  
  
Disclaimer - I own nothing. I am poor and practically homeless. I guess I own Miss Paisley ... sigh ... not really.  
  
Only You  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Duo found himself whistling and stopped immediately. Heero would probably kick him out for the tiniest nuisance he made. He breathed in deeply and thought. Was he going to be spending the night with Heero? Or was Heero going to be the one on the floor?  
  
Duo refused to let that be the case. Heero would either stay in his bed and they would share the room, or Heero would stay in his bed and Duo would set up camp in the living room. Damned if he'd put Heero in a painful position. That was what he was here to do: make sure DIDN'T happen.  
  
"Duo," Wufei called, coming down the stairs.  
  
"Hey," Duo chirped, picking up the cups from their resting places. "You want me to reheat this?" He nudged Wufei's coffee.  
  
"No, thank you. I came to ask what occurred." The Chinese man stood, waiting.  
  
Duo blushed. "Nothing big. Heero agreed to let me stay." Duo's lips thinned. "Even though I don't need his permission."  
  
"Yes, you do. You're a civilian now, just like Diana."  
  
Duo looked at him sardonically. "Wufei, I've never been a civilian, and you damn well know it."  
  
Wufei matched his look with a glare that seemed ready to rival Heero's. What, did the two of them hold glaring contests or something? "You are a civilian, Duo Maxwell. You are not a Preventor, and you, hopefully, are not a bandit, terrorist, or are otherwise compromising the peace of Earth and the colonies."  
  
"Wufie," Duo said, eyes widened in mock amazement. "Was that an attempt at a joke?!"  
  
Miss Paisley came down, saving Duo from certain death. "May I come down now?" she asked the two of them, looking almost petrified.  
  
"Yeah, sure," Duo called before Wufei could say anything. "We're just having a manly talk about ..." He turned to Chang. "What were we talking about?"  
  
Miss Paisley giggled and came down the stairs, crossing her hands together and looking between them. If she noticed the tension crackling in the room, she wisely made no comment. "Where has Mr. Yuy gone?"  
  
It took Duo a moment to realize she was talking about Heero, and when he did, he snorted rudely. When the hell had Heero donned that name? Mister Yuy?! HAH! He just had to bring it up the next time he saw the guy.  
  
"He went into the guest room to fix up a room for Mr. Maxwell," Wufei informed the two of them.  
  
Duo was surprised. He thought that Heero had stomped out of the room, snorting like a bull who had just spotted the red cape, because he wanted to calm down enough to not practice karate - with Duo as the punching bag. So much for that theory.  
  
"I wouldn't go see him right now," Wufei advised as Miss Paisley started to leave. She turned to him questioningly. "He's a bit ... aggravated that Mr. Maxwell came even after specific orders to rest."  
  
In other words, Heero had just managed to not kill the bullfighter. Maybe he hadn't been too far off in his estimations.  
  
He looked outside, feeling a chill creep up his spine. It was full day now, the sun making the small room even more cheery than before, even though Duo had opted to get rid of the fire. It was a place one could call home.  
  
But, he still felt eerie. Cold.  
  
Something was out there.  
  
Duo looked around. There were probably a few escape routes. Definitely more then one. He knew enough about how the gundam pilots worked. They would want multiple exits, just in case their position was compromised. Just like he would. Just as he had when he was on the streets.  
  
He looked at Wufei. "Hey, I'm gonna go for a spell; I think it would be for the best." Wufei seemed reluctant, until he looked back to where Heero had left. Then he nodded jerkily. Duo quickly made his way out the door.  
  
He was immediately greeted with the scents and smells of just an hour or so missed, and smiled. He wanted to look unhurried, lazy. He was just a guy from a cabin checking out the forest scene and having a nice time.  
  
Except that his eyes were constantly moving, constantly checking out everything that so much as shivered in the wind. This was an old habit, as well. One he knew by heart. Check for dangers, don't get caught. Right when you let down your guard, you'll be taken and killed. Remember that. Always remember the danger of trust and normalcy.  
  
He started whistling again, but didn't bother to stop this time. If there was an enemy, would he be luring it away? Would it attack him? Would it continue watching the cabin? Was he completely losing his mind?  
  
Losing your mind isn't a bad thing unless you lose it enough to get caught. Paranoia is always good compared to being too laid back. Always.  
  
He looked at his arm. Damn. Heero would have his head if he knew what he was doing. He looked up to the sky, allowing himself a short moment of relaxation. What was Heero doing right now? Hating him? Cursing him?  
  
Duo's smile was bitter. Yeah. Probably.  
  
  
  
"What the hell do you mean, he's taking a walk'?" Heero demanded icily, anger making his fists clench. He was glaring lethally at his partner. "You let him leave in his condition?!"  
  
Wufei was unaffected by the look, having received it so often it blew past him easier than it did on Duo ... though Wufei had a sneaking suspicion that it hurt Duo more than he let on. "Perhaps you shouldn't make him feel so unwelcome, Yuy," he spat back.  
  
Heero's glare took on a self-disgusted glint. "He shouldn't be here. He's in no condition to --"  
  
"If I may," Miss Paisley spoke up quietly, "I think Duo was well aware of his injuries when he came. He seemed to really need to be here." She looked at them oddly. "Why aren't you happy that you're partner is here? I understand that you might be worried, but he seems to know what he's doing."  
  
"Stay out of this," Heero snapped. "Dammit, I can't believe the baka came in the first place. Is he insane?"  
  
"I don't think so," Wufei said quietly. In fact, the Chinese man knew damn well what was going on with the laughing ex-gundam pilot. He had seen it the moment Duo had stayed too long in Taco Bell when the assassins had come for Miss Paisley. He had guessed that the Deathscythe pilot had gone back for Heero, even though the boy had arrived at their rendezvous point. Yes. It was the same as Heero.  
  
He'd also seen the way Heero sat in the corner of his bed on assignments. Looking off into space and crying, whispering Duo's name into the night.  
  
Wufei looked out into the forest, a sinking feeling hard in his heart. His friends were close. So close. But they were stubborn, obnoxious. He knew the feeling well. He only prayed it wouldn't be their downfall.  
  
  
  
Duo sighed and stuck his good hand in the pocket of his jeans. He was stupid. He should be inside the cabin, trying to disappear and acting like he wasn't there. Instead, he was out here, attracting possible attention, having nothing better to do than think about the past and what Heero had come to mean to him through everything. Even the boy's annoying temperament.  
  
This was getting him nowhere. He should just head the hell back. Before his mind started writing love poems for Heero.  
  
And with that disturbing thought, Duo turned a one-eighty and headed back for the shack.  
  
  
  
"I see a hole forming in the carpet," Wufei joked, but was shot only a withering glare for his efforts.  
  
Heero continued pacing, looking out the window every few seconds, seeming to will Duo's arrival. "Something doesn't feel right," Heero grumbled, running his hands agitatedly through his hair.  
  
"That's probably because you've been pacing for over a half-hour," Wufei commented dryly. "You're probably dizzy."  
  
"I've never been dizzy in my life," Heero snapped.  
  
"Until you fell for Maxwell," Wufei muttered under his breath.  
  
"What was that, Chang?"  
  
"Nothing," Wufei said amicably. "Maybe you should just go after him," he supplied after a while.  
  
Heero didn't even acknowledge his words.  
  
"Is everything okay?" Miss Paisley popped her head out from the hallway, having come from her room to check on them.  
  
Wufei shrugged. "Yuy is having a bit of a --"  
  
"Dammit, I'm going after him," Heero growled, grabbing his jacket from the banister and putting it on. "Keep him the hell here if he returns before me."  
  
Wufei rolled his eyes, but nodded in confirmation of the request. "Take a gun," he advised, but needn't have bothered. Heero already had one in his hand.  
  
Heero didn't bother with a good-bye as he slammed the door shut beside him.  
  
"Well," Miss Paisley said primly, "I hope that chip on his shoulder gives him a hunchback!" And she turned from the room, leaving Wufei trying desperately not to laugh.  
  
  
  
Duo stopped and turned his head. There it was again. Wind against wind. Something big was fighting the current of air. He'd been right all along!  
  
Something was out there!  
  
  
  
A/N: Look at it, it's so nice and pretty ... ahem. Yeah. Well, here you go. Sorry for the huge wait! No touchie? Maybe ... review? Maybe? It make me so very happy, and misa having writer's block, so maybe ... grins cheekily Please?  
  
Hugs Dragen Eyes Thank you so much! There were so many problems in this one, I was ashamed of myself. Thank you so much for catching them!!! 


	11. Amaryllis and Ice

Well, I'm finally back, for anyone patient enough to still be waiting. I'm not gonna say much, just a huge SORRY!! before I get this party started.  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own the G-boys. Nope. Don't. No, really, I don't. DAMMIT I DON'T!!!  
  
WARNING - Uhmm ... cursing, a little pain, some other stuff and a bit OOC, but I think I stuck that in there fairly well. y'know, you can always tell me how I did in a review (HINT).  
  
Only You  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Someone was out there!  
  
The blurring image in front of Duo took the shape of a person, a man. He leaped aside as the form struck where he stood. His eyes caught the glint of a dagger, and he hissed in irritation. He was one-armed, vulnerable on his left side. Damn! He almost stumbled over a rock and just barely managed to right himself. The man came at him again, and he struggled to get out of the damn way.  
  
The man's hair was a messy black mass that should have gotten in his way, but didn't. When his attacker glared at him, he was given a stunning view of beautiful ice blue eyes before he had to move or lose a limb.  
  
Then it all came down to dodging or dying, and his nimble legs were still unable to stop the shocks of pain from screaming up his arm. He bit his lip trying to keep the cry inside and tasted blood. He cursed out loud this time. The dagger came at him from his left, and he jumped back.  
  
And bumped into a tree.  
  
The man's eyes glinted in triumph, and he tensed, expecting the blow, throwing his foot out to try to stop the attack. The dagger came close enough from him to reach out and touch, but his foot managed to clip the man's arm, and the dagger was loosened within his grip. Duo immediately reached out and snatched the hand that held the weapon, praying his grip wouldn't slip. He felt the boy's muscles beneath his fingers and was amazed. The boy seemed easily as strong as he. This fact was proven when he started to buckle under his assailant's superior power. He gritted his teeth and braced his feet a bit better.  
  
"You will die," the man murmured, and his cold voice froze Duo. His eyes shot to the other's, and the two locked. The guy was ... around his age, maybe a year older. Had he been a soldier? On what side? And why was he here, trying to attack Miss Paisley?  
  
Before he could truly begin to question things, the man wrenched his hand free, his grip once more firm on the dagger's handle. Duo found himself trapped, unable to move for the close proximity of his opponent and unable to roll away because of his damned injured arm. He couldn't attack well, because he needed a hand free to try to block whatever attack was made with the knife. He made a valiant effort nonetheless, and hooked his first two fingers, shoving his little finger-weapon into the man's neck, right where his breathing tube lay. The man choked and backed up a couple of inches. More than enough for Duo to ram his knee into the man's crotch.  
  
He tried to grab the dagger from the would-be assassin's hand, but was shoved away. He landed on his injured arm hard and cried out sharply. He began to shake in pain, and tears spurted in his eyes. "Damn," he muttered, and spat out some blood and dirt that had fallen into his mouth. He struggled to stand, hugging his poor, abused arm to his chest. he looked up to see his enemy standing above him, his arms already descending in an arc aimed at his heart.  
  
This fell into a sort of slow motion as he watched the knife coming down, finding his body moving to escape and knowing already that it was fruitless. His aim was sure and perfect, and it would kill him. The sun shone off the metal above him, and he found himself studying the beauty of the weapon despite everything. What a sight,' he thought. It's going to be the last thing I ever see.'  
  
And suddenly the knife was gone, and so was the raven-haired man, and he thought that he was dead. Then noises came through the numbness of his ears, and he could hear the sounds of a struggle, and he was up before he could register the order.  
  
Before him was his almost-killer and ... Heero. They were struggling over the dagger, rolling across the grass in a ferocious tangle of man and sweat and determination. He tried to stand, but felt a wave of dizziness envelop him. He could only sit back helplessly and watch as Heero risked his life to save him.  
  
Heero's face was set in a snarl, his eyes that of a predator's that has finally cornered its prey. His grip tightened on the man's wrist, his thumb pressing into a point of pressure until the killer was forced to drop his blade. Heero let go of the man's hand then, punching his face once, twice, three times, his eyes both calm and crazed. Duo, frightened by this show of craziness - though he couldn't say that he'd never seen it in the war - he tried to shout "Heero!" but it merely came out as a whisper. Or maybe that had been his imagination or something, because Heero was suddenly beside him, holding his head.  
  
"Duo, hold on." His eyes swept down him, and Duo knew he was assessing the damage. He tried to keep the world from moving, but the damn trees were having too much fun hopping around to hold them still for long.  
  
"I'm kay," he whispered, holding Heero's shirt for balance. "Jus' dizzy s all." He closed his eyes, but that only made it worse. So he took a deep breath and attempted to stand. Heero's solid hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Heero-"  
  
"Hold still," the Japanese ex-pilot ordered, and he held the fuck still. "Status?"  
  
"I'm fine, Yuy," he muttered, "just dizzy. I got knocked on my arm, that's all," he snapped, finding that the annoyance was waking him up and was oddly pleased. "I'll live," he finished.  
  
"Just barely," Heero said, and Duo shot him a wary look, unable to tell if Heero was being serious or funny. It scared him, either way.  
  
Heero held a hand under his elbow as he stood, his legs wobbly from remembered trauma. His mind still saw the light glinting from the dagger, the way the shine showed every curve, how it was almost orange in the glow of the day. Was it still day? No, sunset was settling in. Perhaps that was why the light had been darker. Who cared? At least he was alive to see the sunset. Thanks to Heero.  
  
He turned to Heero, opening his mouth to speak, but saw a look so intent on the other's face that he froze again. There were little emotions flying through his usually stoic gaze. "Daijobu ka?" the Preventor asked quietly, and Duo realized that he was truly concerned. That gave him a lot of things to think about, so he stored it all away for later and smiled at Heero.  
  
"Yeah, Heero, I'm fine," he assured, and got Heero's hand off of him, spreading his arms wide. "Ta-da! See?" But it had been a mistake to move his bad arm, and he cried out softly as pain lanced up his arm. He found himself falling.  
  
Heero easily caught him and threw the American's arm around his shoulder. Heero chuckled against Duo's ear, and the Deathscythe pilot's heart and loins stirred. He felt warmed by the sound, just as he had at the restaurant. Heero muttered, "yeah, I see," and Duo laughed.  
  
The two heard a sound and turned to where the assassin had fallen. The man was running off, escaping into the forest. Duo Moved to go after him, But it was Heero's hold that once again held him back. He looked at his old partner, confused. Heero would usually be the first to grab the enemy. Wasn't he the one constantly talking about no one seeing him and living? But Heero just shook his head. "We need to get you back to the safehouse."  
  
"But ..." Duo stammered, and felt completely lost. Heero was in a war situation, and his biggest rule was that liabilities had to be destroyed. Injured as he was, he was nothing more than a big pile of liability.  
  
"Shut up, baka," Heero said, but his soft tone took a bit of the sting of the words. "We never would have known about the enemy watching us if you hadn't brought him out, so now we have the chance to move the subject. And besides," he said, and the hesitant way he was talking alerted Duo's full attention, "i ... don't you hurt any more than you have been."  
  
"Uh, Hee-chan," Duo ventured cautiously, "I just bit my lip. It's not-"  
  
"Have you forgotten about your arm already?" Heero asked, and Duo blinked.  
  
"Oh ... yeah." He had received that from all this, hadn't he? "I guess I did," he joked, but the frown on Heero's face told him that the joke wasn't shared.  
  
"You ... shouldn't have come," Heero said again. "It was ... an undisciplined tactical decision."  
  
"Right," Duo said flatly. "But I already told you ... I couldn't just sit on my ass at home, waiting to get a call hearing that something had happened." He snapped his mouth shut at the sudden understanding in Heero's eyes. He was beyond happy when Heero didn't pursue the topic.  
  
"Well," Heero said tiredly, "we'll have to abandon this position now."  
  
"Yup," Duo chirped, feeling a bit of his old humor returning. "Road trip!"  
  
-Fin-  
  
Well, if anyone is still here, there you go. I hope it's good enough, considering the enormous wait. Sorry about that.  
  
Thank you to all my beautiful reviewers!!! My stories will be slow in updates, but that's what happens when you take courses too hard for you. My bad. Anyway, please review! The faster you do, the sooner new stuff will come out!!! Please? 


	12. Interlude

Hi!!! I've finally updated this, and it's fairly long for me. Anyway, there you go! Have fun! 

Disclaimer - I don't own anyone from Gundam Wing. Not Heero, or Wufei, or Duo. (You know, the really important ones.) I do own Miss Paisley and the weird guy.

WARNING - Cursing, some angst (duh), and a rough draft done only in part-attention. I had a hard time writing this, thoguh I don't know why. Maybe because it's more transition than anything else. Oh, well.

Only You

Chapter 13

His undue happiness at a road trip' quickly died. Wufei was furious with Duo for putting himself in danger, Heero had become a little more moody and a lot more distant, and Miss Paisley was quiet and obviously terrified. Duo stayed close by her through the trudging through the forest. He had a vague impression that they were going to meet with some sort of higher transportation - maybe it was more hopefulness than expectation - and he waited for Heero to tell him.

He never did.

Duo reassured himself with the knowledge that he didn't say anything because it was against Preventor policy. Heero COULDN'T tell him anything.

It still hurt.

Miss Paisley seemed to want to hang around him a bit more than the other two, and Duo realized that he was a source of comfort for her. He was glad to stick by her and not face Wufei, who glared at him evilly every time a got the impression Duo was thinking about him. Or even just whenever. And Fei and Heero looked busy anyway, planning things, checking things out on their laptops. He figured they were trying to figure out who the guy was, and wasn't surprised when Heero came walking up to him one night, grim-faced and terse. Duo stopped his conversation with Miss Paisley and watched him warily.

"I need to know everything you remember about the man you met three days ago," Heero told him, and Duo sighed.

"Not much," he admitted. "I remember specific things ... his eyes, cold as ice and ... i don't know how to explain it ... sort of Japanese, sort of Chinese ... Korean?" Duo asked himself, then shrugged, biting his lip. Should he be saying all this in front of Miss Paisley? "Uhmm, he had messy hair - I'm sure you noticed that, Heero - and one lock was stuck in front of his left eye ... I didn't look at what he was wearing, but I thought I saw an insignia - I was a little busy then, though, and didn't catch much more than a shape similar to a diamond-" Miss Paisley took in a sharp breath, and Duo looked at her in something akin to fear.

Heero picked his ass up off the ground and dragged him over to the trees surrounding them, making sure Miss Paisley couldn't hear any more. Duo was supremely thankful - until Heero snapped at him. "What else?"

Duo flinched, then thought about it. "I memorized the dagger, but that's not important ..." He thought for another minute, trying to figure out what had scared him so much about the man ... steel blue eyes, wild hair, face impassive and cold, voice-

His VOICE.

"The dagger is important," Heero started, but Duo cut him off.

"His voice," Duo breathed, as if he suddenly understood. "His voice ... it was so ... detached, like he was doing nothing more than ... than peeling potatoes, or chopping celery, or something. Like ... " He didn't know how to explain it. It just ... chilled him. He thought to tell Heero that it reminded him of how the Japanese boy was at the beginning of their entrance in the war ... but that was wrong. Heero had still had emotion, even though the emotions were hard and frozen. They had still been there. That man had seemed like a robot. One of those ones from the shows that repeated, "I am only here to execute my purpose." It made him sick just to think of it.

"We believe the enemy ... has lost their collective minds," Heero said carefully, and Duo looked at him sharply. That was a hint into Preventor business, and Duo knew Heero had to tread carefully. "We need to know the ... degree of insanity they have reached."

Duo laughed harshly. "I'm not a psychiatrist, but I think they're a step beyond mere ... INSANITY. He had absolutely no emotion. He just told me that I will die and ... that was it. Like he just wanted me to be certain of my fate, why I have no idea. But ... he just ..." Duo blew out an exasperated breath. He had faced things a lot scarier than that freak; why was he so scared? Damn him for speaking. He'd have been better if his would-be assassin had just tried to kill him in silence.

"And the dagger?" Heero prodded, and Duo leaned into the tiny sound of compassion in Heero's voice, even if it was imaginary.

"Serrated on the last two inches, about 5-6 inches long. A design on the hilt, something almost Celtic. Similar to a Bowie knife, but ... not quite. A stain on the right side. I could see it in the sun's light. It ... wasn't blood. More like ..." Duo thought about the tiny stain he hadn't thought about before and suddenly felt sick, seeing the perfect glint of the metal deflected a bit in his mind's eye. "Like ..." He swallowed hard. "Like a man's cum," he finished in disgust. "The rest of the knife was spotless, so he could have wiped it off. But it was like he wanted me to see it."

Duo heard a hiss in Heero's breath and shook his head, wiping it clear of the damning thoughts. Before, when he was about to die, he hadn't seen the imperfection. He hadn't thought about it at all. "What does it mean?" he asked dully.

Heero hesitated, but Duo knew he'd tell him. There really wasn't a choice. He may have to face it. "The enemy ... saves a man's ..." Heero seemed to have problems saying the word, which would have made Duo laugh until he cried if it weren't for the situation. "They keep it as a trophy," Heero finished lamely.

Duo nodded, then stood awkwardly. "I've got to ... go to the bathroom," Duo whispered hoarsely, and Heero stepped out of Duo's way as the American hid behind a group of trees and threw up.

i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!

Duo's sleep had been shot when he'd finished his business behind those oaks. Instead, he absently stoked the fire and looked around at the forest they'd been traveling in. The moon winked at him; the owls called to him.

The trees towered above them, swinging in the breezes. Duo knew that they weren't going to smother him, but he honestly felt like they were coming closer, getting ready to attack ... or maybe sneaking closer so that the man from before could leap out and-

"Duo, what are you doing up?"

Duo jumped guiltily, turning to Heero. The ex-pilot stood before him, hands on hips, glaring at him almost ... TENDERLY, his eyes burning with the light from the fire. "Uh, hi, Hee-chan," Duo said a bit ... awkwardly.

Heero's brows knitted together, but with irritation over the name or concern over his puny reply, Duo wasn't sure. Heero's eyes glanced sharply to the right, then turned back to him. Duo realized that he was on watch and shifted guiltily He hadn't been staying up for watch, which should have been an obvious thing to do. Especially after the attack. He should have thought of that. He should have been helping.

"Oh, Heero, I'm sorry." He stood, tossing his messy braid behind his back. "I should have thought about standing watch. I'll take this shift; You can-"

"No," Heero snapped immediately, bringing Duo's apologetic words to an abrupt halt. "You're injured, and you're not an agent. You go back to sleep. We're getting up early again tomorrow."

"But-" Duo argued.

"NO!" Heero barked, and Duo flinched, his jaw snapping shut once again. "No," he repeated, gentler now. "Be happy I let you stay. If you got hurt again ..." He brushed the caring voice aside. "It will be my head Une chops off."

"Wouldn't want you to lose your head over this," Duo joked, but it was lame and didn't fully hide his ... disappointment in Heero's words. Disappointment wasn't the word for it, but there was no way in hell he was going to put a name to the pain that lanced in his chest. "You could always just say I'm an idiot."

Heero snorted out of either humor or disgust and turned away. "Go back to sleep," he ordered. Duo snorted and deliberately turned back to the fire.

"Kiss my ass," he mumbled under his breath, but jolted when he heard a reply.

"Too dirty for me."

Duo gaped for a minute. Heero had turned a joke on him! Heero ... the Perfect Soldier ... the guy that never talked, let alone joked ... Heero...

Duo groaned and poked the fire, trying to ignore the warm, happy, PAINFUL feelings rolling around in his gut. He'd spent time with Heero before, at the restaurant, and at Taco Bell ... whatever kind of reunion that had been ... and he hadn't really had it HIT him...

Someone must have gotten him back on his feet, shown him the way. That was why he was so much kinder ... he hadn't thought about it, but ... it was true ... Heero must have someone. Someone to pull him from his horrible memories, someone to help him see the beauty in everything, someone to...

Someone to love him.

Duo felt sick. He hadn't been there for Heero, even though he'd loved the man practically at first sight. He had run off, hurt, and never looked back ... well, not far enough to see anything. He'd left Heero to fend for himself, and even though Heero had coped quite well, it still meant that he'd left the man alone...

Duo went to his blanket next to Miss Paisley - he'd found out that her name is Diana - and stared up to the sky. He saw shapeless forms, shapeless images wafting through the stars. Heero's stoic face, and his fuck off attitude. And now, the face he had ... still hard, and yet ... infinitely softer. Infinitely. Heero ... I fucked up so bad with you ... so bad...

His eyes drifted close, and he found himself plagued with images of what might have been.

i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!

He awoke earlier than dawn, and again stared at the sky. He had a feeling that they were close to their destination. Where would they be going? Probably better if he didn't know.

He turned his head to Heero's blanket, but he wasn't there. A shiver of panic laced through him, and he was sitting up before he saw the Japanese man talking with Wufei. Chang nodded tersely, and then Heero was coming toward them.

Duo recognized his purpose and turned to Miss Paisley. "Diana," he called, barely touching her. She awoke immediately once he touched her. It made him wonder what she'd seen, but he bit the words back and nodded towards Heero, who was watching them. He seemed satisfied by their consciousness and turned on his heel, walking back towards Wufei.

"Why is he so cold?" Miss Paisley wondered, already standing to roll up her blanket. Duo struggled with his own, thinking how best to answer her rhetorical question.

"He's not cold," he answered, and the way she jumped told him that she hadn't at all expected an answer. "He's just ... assessing battle plans. He's always distant when he's on a mission." he hadn't seen the man any other way, but he had a feeling those days were long gone. "It's just in his nature. He can't let personal things get in the way of an operation, it's just not good protocol." He managed to get the damn blanket folded once and growled in annoyance at his injury.

Diana noticed his discomfort and folded his blanket as well, looking at Duo through her tousled hair. "You sound as if you really know him, and yet, you sound so sad."

Duo flinched. "Yeah, well... it's been a while since we've ... worked together, and ... I missed it." He looked up then, and saw Heero looking right at him. He blushed furiously and ducked his head again. Had Heero read his lips? Damn, wouldn't that just be humiliating.

Miss Paisley smiled knowingly, but thankfully refrained from comment. Duo took the blankets from her and managed to stuff them, one-handed, into the pack they carried. There was food in it, but Heero and Wufei hadn't taken any out, and Duo wasn't about to make the first move with provisions. They'd eaten last night, and that was enough for Duo. He'd gone longer before, after all.

He was about to return when Duo heard the unmistakable sound of helicopter blades. He looked up, looking for the source, calculating the distance ... but it sounded like it was coming down, ready to-

He ran to Diana, who was watching in trepidation, and carefully his her behind his body, watching the sky as the helicopter came through the trees, and Duo looked at it, squinting, trying to find that diamond shape-

There was an emblem on the side, but it didn't seem to have a diamond-

No! He looked at Heero's jacket, then Wufei's then back to the plane, and let out a gusty sigh of relief. Muscles he didn't know he'd tensed relaxed, and he carefully stepped out of Miss Paisley's line of sight. Heero was cautiously checking the area still, in case the mystery man leaped out from behind a bush, trying to finish Diana off before they escaped, but there was no odd rustling besides the bending of the shrubs and trees trying to escape the copter's blades.

Wufei's eyes were locked on the helicopter, making sure it didn't do anything funny, that it really was Preventor issued and Preventor piloted, and Duo was left to hold Diana's hand and try to calm her a bit, as she watched the man in the helicopter land before her. She hid behind Duo, which made him almost want to laugh but for the real fear in her eyes.

And then they were being rushed onto the copter and lifted into the air, and Duo was cramped between Diana and Heero, and they were off to their new destination.

A/N: Well, there you go. Review? I'd really, really appreciate it. And I've started a new thing with my stories, and I'm going to stick with it. A review will grant you 500 words! Doesn't that sould nice? It's a pretty little incenitve to get you to review. Like? See you next chapter!!!


	13. Mission Failure

Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Duh.

Warnings: cursing... angst... OOC-ness (but it could happen... remember, they're young and still growing...) and maybe other stuff...

Archive? Sure! Have fun!

Side Note: I hope this makes up for the long wait. I _have_ been writing this...

* * *

Only You

Chapter 14

* * *

He knew that Wufei was watching him watch Duo, and he knew that Wufei would be giving him another ass-reaming, so he didn't look at his partner. Wufei was getting tired of his antics. The Chinese man would soon speak up about Heero's obsession with a certain "braided baka."

He just couldn't seem to be calm now. He'd be better off knowing Duo was at home, bored and finding a REAL job. Instead, the idiot was here, with them, and they didn't have time to drop him off.

"Oh, yes," he heard Duo whisper and focused his attention on what Duo was happy about. The American was staring out the plane's window. He looked out, as well. Ah. So that was it. Apparently, the braided ex-pilot was as tired of the cabins as he'd been when he'd sent orders to Headquarters. He'd told them that if they were given another cabin, he would blow it up himself. They had agreed on a "summer home" in the mountains. They were near enough that he realized they were about to land.

Immediately, he went on alert. He didn't see the enemy, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Duo and Wufei were both scanning the sparse mish-mash of trees and shrubs. They would be landing 3.5 miles away from the house, which was close to a summit. The cliff would be at the back of the house, a mere ten feet from the back porch. The front wouldn't have trees until about three meters from the porch. There, though there were trees, they were sparse. The enemy would have a VERY difficult time getting near the house.

Which sort of made Heero wonder why they hadn't been sent there earlier.

"Wait a minute," Duo piped up. "I remember this place. We came here once before – Quatre and me. After..." Duo shot Heero a look. "After the time we were first told to give up our Gundams. When Oz targeted the colonies."

_ When I blew myself up for the first time _ Heero added to himself. _Was that what you were thinking, Duo? Was that what brought that sudden flash of pain to your eyes? _

Duo's arm, he noticed, had tightened on Diana. "What did you do here?" he asked and watched as Duo's eyes darkened.

"We holed ourselves up and hid. Duh. Not much else we could do. We continued hacking into enemy software. I messed it up a bit, more for spite than anything. Went on a few undercover ops where it couldn't be linked to the Gundams." Duo took a deep breath, as if steeling himself. "And drunk myself into a stupor every night."

Heero cocked an eyebrow in bemusement. Drunk himself into a stupor? Duo? It burned in him to ask about it. He didn't when he saw the sad look on Duo's face. Whatever memories Duo had here, they weren't ones he wanted to remember.

When the plane landed, Wufei got off first and searched the area, as usual. Diana had been woken up by Duo a bit earlier. Heero was almost certain that Duo woke the woman only because his arm was broken. If he could have carried Diana, he would have. For now, she was rubbing her eyes and yawning hugely, staying by Duo's side.

When the plane left them behind, it was with a collective sigh that they all began their march. The same order was used – Wufei, Duo, Diana, then Heero. Heero took a small pleasure from the fact that there were no thorns here. Duo couldn't hurt his hands being a heroic gentleman this time. Maybe he could start to i heal /i .

Maybe, Heero mused, but he doubted it.

* * *

Insight into Heero's mind. There. The end.

* * *

Duo listened intently to Diana. She seemed to be traveling well. She also seemed immensely sad and scared. What could he possibly do to help her? He didn't even know what was going on!

He thought about what Heero had told him before the helicopter had come. About how the enemy was insane. About what was... left over. Had Diana seen that? But that wouldn't frighten her too much, would it? Maybe he was overestimating her. It was an extreme that a man would fear. Yet, even though it frightened him, he was used to such things. Maybe that was all she had seen. That was enough.

But, somehow... it didn't seem right.

And, unsurprisingly, his thoughts were depressed at the moment. He'd been more honest than he'd planned to be when Heero had asked him about what he'd done after Heero had... had... attempted suicide. Blown himself up.

He had attacked Oz secretly. His attacks had been labeled as rogue ops by Po and others. He didn't care. He killed and killed and killed, then destroyed and scammed and otherwise did all he could while not allowed to do anything. Then he would come back to this house and drink until he couldn't breathe. But it never rid him of the memories. Never. He could still see it. Heero coming out of his cockpit, stone-faced, holding out the self-destruct button and... callously pressing it. The way, for just an instant, he shone, and then-

Duo put a hand to his mouth and folded over slightly. Heero had flown then, and...

"Duo?"

Shit. He had to get himself under control. He had to will away the memories. He had to stay focused. For Diana. If for nothing else, then for Diana. Besides, if this place hadn't changed, then there would be plenty of liquor. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. Hopefully, he wouldn't remember too much of those days once he entered this building.

He doubted it.

"Duo?!" Diana sounded almost panicked. She undoubtedly thought someone had hurt him. Maybe Heero had that day. Lord knew he'd cursed the Japanese teen enough.

"Duo. Status."

He flinched at Heero's voice. But it was enough, he told himself firmly. Enough to see Heero alive. Alive and... living. Heero had changed. He wouldn't mindlessly attempt to kill himself anymore. He was supremely strong. Heero would be all right, no matter what. Staying here, with these three, was doing nothing but hurting him more.

"Fine. I'm fine," Duo muttered, standing straight once again. "Sorry." He started forward.

"Duo."

Damn that cold voice. Heero now had the power to speak kindly, yet he only spoke in a harsh voice to Duo. Why? When necessary, he was kind. But at other times...

He pasted on the Jester's Mask with enough force to give him whiplash and turned to Heero. "What is it, Heero? Sorry I slowed us down just now, but we can keep going."

"Change places with Diana."

"What?" Duo asked stupidly, surprised. "Isn't that an... undisciplined tactical decision?"

Heero's mouth twitched. "Just do it."

Duo felt the juvenile urge to salute. He tried to hide it and his trepidation in a nonchalant shrug. "Okay, dude. I warned you." He moved behind Diana and urged her to move up. He had a feeling that whatever Heero had to say would not be something she would wish to listen – or he would wish for her to hear.

"Heero-"

"Whatever it is that bothers you about this safehouse, it's in the past." Oddly, Heero's voice seemed to have... calmed. Like he was attempting to reassure. "You needn't worry about it anymore."

Duo watched Heero as he walked, walking backwards. "No," he said softly, "I don't think I need to worry anymore, either." _But that won't stop me from remembering,_ he added silently to himself.

And wasn't it just a kick that it wasn't at all because of him? Quatre and Relena...

Heero's face got... concerned. Duo's eyes widened in shock. This wasn't a... a concealed emotion, like Duo was used to seeing. This was TRUE concern. It showed itself all over Heero's face, bursting through every single pore... his eyes, his brows, his lips... it changed Heero completely. He became... something even more beautiful than before. Duo couldn't possibly explain. But... the love and the pain that welled up inside him nearly killed him. And the hope – damn that irrepressible hope – rose, as well. Then Heero spoke.

"Did something happen to Quatre while the two of you stayed here?"

Duo laughed. He laughed until he felt the tears about to spill, then he turned around and bent his head down to hide what he couldn't prevent. Desperately, desperately he tried to stop. He wouldn't cry. Men don't cry. They never cry, and certainly not in front of Heero and Wufei and Diana. Diana, who would be concerned, and Heero and Wufei, who... would be annoyed.

Heero concerned himself about Relena or Quatre or whoever else had opened him up to emotions. Quatre. Never had he wanted to be Quatre as much as he did in that instant. At least Heero cared about Quatre. At least...

"Duo?"

Oh, God. Now Heero was going to know how pathetic he was. No. He had to get himself under control, or else Heero-

"Yuy! Behind you!"

Duo turned immediately, mindless of his tears, but no one was paying attention to his face. He just barely saw the man from earlier, now holding a gun, before-

_**Bam!**_

Duo reached out to slam Heero to the ground without thought, but Heero had already moved. Duo landed on the ground and rolled, pulling himself up instantaneously. He ignored the slight pain from his arm and turned to Wufei and Diana. Wufei was trying to assist Heero, but Diana was getting in the way. Gunfire had suddenly rocked itself through the landscaping – the few birds in the few trees flew off, casting shadows of demons over Heero as he attacked the enemy. Duo's heart skipped, and he hesitated for a millisecond before turning to Diana. "Diana! To me! Now!" He beckoned her over with his good hand. When she got near, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the battle. Wufei went straight to Heero's aid.

"Duo," she choked, "how did they-"

"I dunno. Let's not worry about that right now. We need to get out of their way." Duo's entire body clenched. "We have to trust them to win."

Diana looked at him with intensity then. "You're worried. Just as I thought."

Duo was too busy scanning the area to look at her anymore. "Huh? You thought what?"

"That you love Mr. Yuy."

Duo froze then. When he turned to her, it was in fear. "Diana... please..."

Her eyes grew sad. "I knew it," she whispered. "You love him, and so you suffer."

He felt his breath rush. "Don't... you can't-"

"Duo! Pay attention, baka!"

Duo flinched at Heero's tone, but he reacted, by Shinigami. He pulled Diana to the ground and placed his body over hers. Bullets flew around them. "Shit!" Duo cursed, then grabbed Diana again and leapt up with her. He kept himself between her and the bullets. There was no way they were escaping. There was hardly any cover.

But he had to protect Diana. He looked at his cast – it was a hindrance.

In less than a second, the hunter's knife on his leg was out. The same amount of time saw his cast fall to the ground. "Diana! Get behind me!"

Immediately, the small blond was hidden behind Duo's body. He saw two men after him. Wufei and Heero were trying to take down the man with the dead ice-blue eyes.

"Shit," Duo muttered. He quickly got into a fighting stance and prayed that there were no more pursuers than this. But Diana had brought up a good point: how i had /i they been found? And even before they reached the safehouse. It was impossible... unless...

"Diana, get behind that pine," he instructed tersely and indicated the spruce tree to their far right. "I'll distract them. Don't ask questions," he ordered, "just do it!"

She ran.

He raced forward, the knife in his left hand. The enemies pointed their guns at him, taking him for the greater threat that he was. He calculated the trajectories of the gun's angle and adjusted his stance right before the gun blasts.

Both missed.

He managed to reach them during the interlude when they stood in shock and knocked the gun from one of the enemies' hands. Both were big and burly – normal thugs, unlike the other. This would be a cakewalk.

With a flick of his wrist, the knife slashed across the enemy's throat in a killing slice. The next instant had him moving again, swerving around the dropping body to attack again. The adrenaline rush racing through his system was familiar and welcome in its intensity. The God of Death was born again.

The survivor, a hulking guy with long auburn hair was now aiming his gun almost wildly. Duo easily dodged the bullets. "You monster!" he screamed. "Stay away! Stay away from me!"

"I'm not a monster," Duo whispered, his lips curling back into a smile that belonged to his god. He neared the man. "I'm Shinigami." He grabbed the man's gun and ripped it from his hand. With a crash, the butt hit the man's right temple. "Unfortunately, I won't take you yet. You're for the Preventors."

Duo heard Diana's scream from a distance. He turned on a dime. There were three more men gathered around her. They looked vastly different from the two thugs. They looked more like... the man before. Thin and lithe, like him and the other ex-Gundam pilots.

"Duo Maxwell. Oh-two. The Deathscythe pilot." One of the three addressed him as he pulled Diana's arms behind her back. His hair was shoulder-length and brunette. "Excellent in stealth operations, hacking, and undercover ops. Weapons of choice – knives, scythes, daggers. Best in close combat, but still exceptional at far range." The brown-haired terrorist smirked. "We know all about your combat strategies, Gundam pilot."

Duo glanced at Diana's terrified face. "And just how do you know so much about me?"

"Oh, not just you," the man said. "We've been taught about all of you. After all," he chuckled, "we are your replacements."

Duo's brows furrowed in confusion. "Replacements?"

"Just in case you failed," the terrorist explained. "The doctors had faith, of course, but not enough to exclude a back-up plan. We were cloned from your DNA – your skills, your thought patterns. To save themselves from confusion, our physical DNA was altered. To make us more efficient, our personalities were changed." His head lifted in a way meant to point at himself. "I was stemmed from Quatre Raberba Winner."

"From Quatre?" Duo struggled to keep up. "Impossible. You're nothing like Quatre. You're nothing like any of us."

The man shrugged. "It does not matter to me whether you believe it or not. What matters is this." He pulled out his gun. "The chase is over."

"Wait!" Duo shouted, panicked. If these guys were half as good as they said they were, he and Heero and Wufei and Diana were all screwed. Especially in this situation. "Why are you doing this? Peace has been obtained! We have no more reason to fight!" Duo spread his arms out. "Look around! There's no one left to fight!"

"No one?" The gun he held was aimed at Duo. "I can think of five."

The two men with him finally spoke up. "Agreed," one said simply – a tall, bald guy – and the other nodded enthusiastically – a guy with short-cropped red hair.

Duo cursed and moved. The shot that was fired missed, but the other two now had i their /i guns out. Somehow, he had to get Diana out of there. He was confused about how all of this was fitting together, but he definitely knew that Diana was somehow important. He had to get her safe.

Gunshots exploded around him. He scrambled, hoping desperately that he wouldn't roll right into a bullet. These guys were better at quickly altering the aim of their guns. His arm began to protest heatedly to every movement he made. He clenched his teeth and used the pain to sharpen his senses.

Heero and Wufei could still be heard fighting, so he wouldn't be getting any help from there. He had to focus on his allies' skills and try to figure out which clones he was dealing with. Quatre. A natural-born leader. Quick-witted, efficient. Sandrock had used short weapons with a wide range of uses. He could handle Zero. Shit. He knew Quatre's fighting style well enough – adaptable, in a word. He should be ready for almost anything – smart moves, tactics... he trusted his knowledge on Quatre to help him. As for the other two... Mr. Baldy was either Wufei or Trowa. Couldn't be Heero. Heero wouldn't have been interested in the outcome enough to speak. At that point, if he had said anything, it would have been "hn." And the excited one was... himself. Oh God.

He ducked behind a bush. "What the hell do you want with the woman?" He threw himself out of it just as three bullets ripped holes through the leaves. "Well?!"

The three seemed to be taking great amusement in his little dance. "We don't want her. Jocker does. He said he'll get one last dance with her before he kills her."

"Dance?" His eyes once again moved to Diana, who now stood as if paralyzed. He only knew of one dance he could be referring to, and by the look on her face...

"No..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "No! I won't let you!" Diana started struggling like a thing possessed. She twisted around herself and began clawing at the man's arms. "No!" She screeched the word over and over like a mantra. "No no no no no!!!"

Duo moved like lightning. In an instant, he'd grabbed Diana and, ignoring the scratches she mindlessly gave him, grabbed the Quatre-clone's gun. He aimed wildly, keeping the clone back long enough to retreat a few feet. He looked around, but only saw the Quatre-clone and Duo-clone. Where was the other one?

He closed his eyes and felt the air against his skin. Above!

He threw himself to the side, dragging a squirming Diana with him. He turned and saw the bald one watching him impassively. The exact place where Duo's been standing was now Baldy's. Trowa. The genius at acrobatics. "Holy shit," he murmured, feeling his body jerk in fear. Against Trowa, Quatre, and himself... he was dead. He prayed that Heero and Wufei were faring better than he.

* * *

"Yuy! Three o'clock!"

Heero turned without thought and studied the newcomer. The hair was silver and long, pulled back into a severe ponytail. He held a sword in his hand. "Heero Yuy. It is an honor." The man made a short but elaborate bow.

Heero cocked an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"

"Why, I am your partner." The man grinned. "I am the genetic copy of the Dragon Clan's Chang Wufei."

Both eyebrows rose now. "What?"

"Come now, Yuy. Surely you are not so ignorant as to use Maxwell's words." Yes, he did sound similar to Wufei there. "I wished to fight you because only you are a worthy opponent." His eyes flicked to Wufei, who was trying to dodge the black-haired man's attacks. "It is injustice, being borne from one so weak." He shrugged. "Well, by now, Maxwell should have been taken care of by the others."

Heero's heart froze. "What are you saying?"

The man tsked. "I am saying he is dead. He cannot fight three of us clones. Even for one of you, it is impossible, and we both know that Maxwell and Winner are the weakest of all of us."

"You're wrong," Heero declared and pointed his gun at the man's temple. "Duo is not weak." He emphasized his words with a gunshot.

* * *

"Duo, watch out!"

"Dammit, I'm trying!" He knew he had no right to curse at Diana. The woman was only trying to help. The problem? She i wasn't /i . And he had to not only save his own skin, but hers, as well. Against three guys who were supposed to be the same as the him and the others – only i better /i .

He felt warm liquid trickling down his arm and grimaced. Dammit, not again. Not now!

The gun in his injured arm's hand was as useless as the knife. All of the clones were coming after him, following motions that he knew had been practiced with one another – formations. And they were perfect for the three. He figured he had the Quatre-clone to thank for that. More often than not, Fake Duo would disappear at times, only to show up right behind or beside him, just as Fake Quatre closed in from his other side and Fake Trowa crashed in from above. At those times, it was more luck than skill that made him successfully evade.

Fake Quatre took position a good distance from him, aiming his gun directly at Diana, not him. It was an obvious trap, a new formation. Without a choice, he bulldozed into it.

He and Diana fell to the ground as three bullets whizzed by his body. He lifted his head – a gun was planted right in his face – and a cold smile, a smile he remembered had once belonged to only him, asked, "Can the God of Death truly die?" And then Fake Duo pulled the trigger.

* * *

A clang told Heero that the enemy's sword had blocked the bullet.

"Come now, Yuy, that cannot be all you have." The man's smirk was superior and too familiar for Heero's comfort. "I was hoping for a challenging battle. It seems you will disappoint me."

"Hn." Heero shot at the man, rolled to the side, and shot again. To his shock, the man easily blocked both of his bullets with his scimitar, then flew after Heero before the shock fully swept up his spine.

The dead-faced opponent Wufei faced was somehow familiar in his fighting style. A battle and a full year with the man he mimicked made it much easier for Wufei to dodge his opponent's attacks. The question was – how did he know Heero's attack patterns, and how had he learned to do them i better/i

Impossible, Wufei told himself, pushing the man's fist away and attempting to knee him in the gut. The attacks weren't performed _better_ as much as they were... _faster_ and _harder_. But that, too, was impossible. He knew no one else except perhaps himself and the other Gundam pilots who had so much skill. These people would also need to have been trained since childhood. That would not only be unnecessary, but highly improbable.

Improbable. But not impossible.

The man before him paid no attention to his tousled hair, nor his unreasonable speed. The ice-blue eyes were locked completely onto his every movement. With an ungraceful snarl uncommon on his lips, Wufei snaked to the right – the opposite of where his instincts told him to go. The man had moved slightly to where he'd been about to go.

_As I thought,_ Wufei nodded, _they know our moves. Come on, Yuy – figure it out!_

* * *

Heero shot two bullets at the sword, swerving it away from him. He quickly reloaded and dodged again. He recognized the way the man turned. Now the sword would come up from the ground at an 80 degree angle-

He easily dodged the attack, completely prepared for the backlash that came to chop off his neck. His many training exercises with the original had prepared him well. He would have to create a new discipline in the middle of a battle.

He felt his mouth turn a bit upwards in excitement. This could be an interesting battle, after all.

* * *

Duo just barely managed to hit the arm away from him, then dodged the second bullet and continued rolling beyond what was necessary. He felt a tiny shake in the earth from when Fake Trowa hit where he would have stopped.

Okay. He was getting the hang of this. He pulled himself to his hands and feet and prepared to grab the enemy that would be advancing on him at this instant – and felt his right arm momentarily give out beneath him.

Fake Quatre landed his knee squarely in Duo's face.

The American flew backgrounds and slammed headfirst into a sapling. He moved blindly, blanking the pain from his conscious, prepared for an attack on where he'd landed – Baldy kicked him back, and Fake Duo grabbed his arms and pulled him up. Duo managed to wriggle out of his clone's arms and twisted around.

The three men swarmed around him, leaving Diana alone, deciding to take him on instead. The blond watched in fear, but it was better than lying dead.

Shit. He had to end this somehow.

He guessed that there were about three bullets left in the gun he held, and the others had all managed to reload theirs. He was outnumbered and outmatched. And Diana was counting on him.

Duo gritted his teeth. Somehow, _somehow_ he had to do this.

The three in front of him moved as a unit, separating. One went left, another right. The one in the middle, the one that was a remake of Quatre – the brunette – came charging straight at him.

He saw Fake Trowa do a dancing leap to fly on top of him and moved swiftly to the right, evading the blow. In an instant, Fake Quatre was there to meet him. Duo threw his hands out to block the attack and skidded back from the force of the blow. Only luck kept him on his feet.

The Fake Quatre hit him again, this time a side kick, and he just barely managed to block with his bad arm before he was sailing over to his own DNA copy. His bad arm burned as he moved it again, dropping to the ground and using both arms as a launchpad. He evaded his copy's blow-

And got hit in the back by Baldy, which threw him right back into his copy and Fake Quatre.

Both of them grabbed an arm and turned him around to face Baldy. He struggled in their grasp, but both held him securely. Fake Trowa walked up to him and roughly grabbed his chin.

"You were a worthy opponent," the bald one told him softly. For an instant, the voice matched the real Trowa's. Duo's heart skipped a painful beat.

Then Baldy's arm chopped toward his neck.

* * *

Wufei found it difficult to alter his fighting style in the middle of a battle and sported bruises for his mistakes. His enemy was fast, strong, and skilled. And anti-social.

Wufei grinned. This plan was insane. It could definitely work.

"Hey, you," Wufei spoke up suddenly, and the man paused. Wufei thought back to the annoying conversation he'd once had to endure from Duo. "Why are vampires afraid of garlic?"

The man stopped dead. His brows furrowed. Finally, just as it had with his counterpart, the first emotion ever witnessed crossed the boy's face. And that emotion was confusion.

"Why garlic?" Wufei continued, a smirk on his lips. Duo had begun the conversation when Wufei and Heero had been accompanying him on a search-and-destroy mission. Apparently, Duo had gotten sick of their stoic attitudes and had momentarily snapped. "Why not beats, or onions, or potatoes?"

The brows furrowed a bit more. The lips parted. "What the hell are you-"

Wufei's kick connected squarely with his enemy's jaw.

* * *

Point three, form one. Heero dodged to the left and again dodged another sword strike. He hopped to the left when he would have turned right. A graceful twist from him and a halting step from his enemy gave Heero and opening shot. He took it without faltering.

The enemy didn't even grunt, but used the force of the bullet to twist himself around. Heero, taken by surprise, merely saw the sword swinging back towards him.

Duo snapped his head down on the hand so fast he felt his brain rattle. He smirked at the bald Fake Trowa, a Shinigami smile.

It vanished when Baldy pulled out his gun.

_**BAM!!!**_

The shot seemed to echo in Heero's mind, and a foreboding settled inside of him. He had managed to dodge his enemy's attack with only his short the worse for wear, then had managed to catch his leg. A tug of war had begun and then-

His heart didn't seem to be beating too well.

"Come! We've gotten what we came for!" Heero heard someone call. Diana's screams accompanied the proclamation.

Suddenly Heero understood. The gunshot. _Duo._

His enemy slashed his sword at him, and he was forced to let go to escape the attack. In an instant his enemy had leapt away. Heero fired a shot more to keep him away than anything else. He heard Wufei shoot, as well, and then a silence that pervaded his soul.

"Status?" he called out.

"Safe. One captured; not in danger," Wufei immediately reported. Nothing came from Duo.

"Duo?" he called out.

"Your ally is dead, just as you will be!" Heero turned to the voice, seeing the man from the earlier attack raise his gun at him. Like lightning, Heero raised his own.

_Bam!_

The triggers were pulled as one. The bullets hit each other in midair and spun uselessly off into the distance.

Wufei shot his own gun, and the man dodged. His leg bled where Wufei had shot him earlier, but he stood on it with no problem. Heero recognized it as part of his own training.

The man was outnumbered with the two of them there, especially injured and with the new knowledge they had. Heero knew they would be able to take him. He launched himself forward.

"Oh-two has been eliminated. My mission is complete."

Heero halted, recognizing the words. Oh-two – 02 – Duo. Mission complete – his survival wasn't necessary anymore.

"Do you want to die here?" he demanded, stopping his own attack.

The man made no movement. Heero knew what he was thinking.

"It doesn't matter that your mission is over. Do you _want_ to die?"

"I want to kill you first," the man growled.

Wufei snorted. "That will never happen."

"We have already eliminated one of you."

"No!" Heero snapped. "Duo is not dead!"

"Then how did we retrieve the woman?" the man challenged.

Heero breath stopped in his lungs. Duo would never have let the enemy take Diana. He would have protected her, just as he always did. He always protected...

"NO!!!" Heero shook his head adamantly. It couldn't be true!

The man before him grunted. "You fall prey to your emotions," he said, and in response Wufei simply pressed his gun against the man's other leg. The man couldn't dodge in time, but he took the assault without a murmur.

Heero hardly noticed the newest gun blast. "Damn you, emotions are the only things we have!" And he turned and ran towards where he'd heard Diana's screams.

The forest looked abused. Gunshots had ripped the clearing to shreds. Bushes were ripped apart, trees scratched and bare. The ground was torn up, as if someone dug around and then dumped the grass and dirt haphazardly back onto the ground.

Someone wasn't going to be happy when they returned to their "summer home."

If a cavalry had rampaged though hear, the place couldn't be any more messed up. There were even a couple bodies lying on the ground.

And off to his right lay one dormant body in particular that coated the dirt with his blood. The braid coiled around him like a serpent.

"Duo..." Heero breathed. He ran up to Duo's torn body. He checked for spinal injuries, then carefully turned Duo over.

He was a mess. There was a large scrape on the right side of his head that gushed blood. His wounded arm was also bleeding, as were numerous cuts and scrapes. Bruises were starting to form around the rest of his body.

The bullet that had obviously been aimed for his head had only taken a glancing blow. He seemed to be breathing. "Duo?" Heero shook him lightly, always careful of his injuries. "Duo, wake up. Duo! Duo, you have to wake up. You have to get up! Duo!"

A tiny groan took Heero's rising panic and metamorphosed it into weak-kneed thankfulness. "Duo, come on, wake up now."

"Heero..."

"That's right," Heero sighed, "it's me."

Duo's eyes fluttered open, squinting in pain. The braided boy grimaced. "I couldn't... stop them... NO!" He snapped up. "Diana!"

Heero gently pushed him back down. "Duo, you have to stay down. You're injured."

Duo winced and touched the side of his head, where the blood still oozed from the wound. He grimaced. "I should be dead..." Then his eyes widened. "Diana. She came... she shoved the gun away." Duo's eyes held a pain beyond Heero's knowledge. "She saved my life."

Heero merely squatted there, his heart hammering. He had almost lost Duo and hadn't even known it. Good Lord.

"Heero?"

Heero shivered and focused back on Duo. "We have to get you to a hospital."

"No," Duo said, then sat up. Heero hovered beside him and opened his mouth to argue. "No!" Duo held his head carefully, but his words were strong. "We have to save Diana. She's in danger. Apparently, a guy named Jocker is going to rape her and leave her for the birds."

Heero homed in on the information. "Jocker?"

Duo nodded his head, then winced. "I think that's what he said." Duo looked back up to Heero. "We are way over our heads, Heero. And I think we should share our information, for once."

Heero began to reply, but Wufei's irritated voice stopped him.

"Back-up!"

Without thought, both Heero and Duo responded to the distress call, racing back to Wufei's position. Heero heard Duo stumble slightly, but he forced himself to push on.

When they arrived, Heero met with only Wufei's form. The Chinese Preventor looked both pissed and humiliated at the same time.

"He escaped?" Heero escaped.

"Towards two o'clock and damned fast."

Heero cursed. "We need to find out where they're located."

Duo spoke up then, though it was hard to hear him, his voice was so soft. "I think I can help with that."

Wufei cocked an eyebrow. "_You?_" Heero sensed Wufei's tension bleed out despite his words, however, once he saw Duo standing and talking.

"Oh, witty," was Duo's comeback. He began traipsing back the way he had come. Heero and Wufei had no choice but to follow.

* * *

After they finished trussing up Duo's lug of a captive, they all hid in a large cave that had once stored Sandrock and Deathscythe. There were multiple exits and no insulation.

Duo shivered for the eighty millionth time and touched the quick bandage Heero had made for him. He was curled on the side of the cave, trying to hide himself from the night air. He thought about all he'd been told.

A big-time ammunition and drugs ring. They were selling banned weapons and drugs, pimping others out (both men and women), and were more than likely building mobile suits. If they weren't planning an attack, they were certainly helping whoever i was /i . The leader was Jocker, who loved playing with someone of any sex as long as he could torture them. He learned that Diana had scars all along her torso and middle from what he had done to her.

He also learned that Jocker had a superiority complex that couldn't be easily thwarted. Apparently, he needed to cut off his enemies' dicks as trophies... and sometimes as fuck toys. Good God.

The Preventors were also apparently trying to follow this through diplomatically – with evidence and lawyers and jails. Duo didn't think it would work.

But Heero and Wufei were trapped within the laws they had sworn to protect. Duo wasn't.

Unfortunately, he also knew he couldn't do this alone.

Heero had just gotten on the comm link about four miles out and had informed Commander Une that they were working on their own. Commander Une, demanding an explanation, merely received a terse "mission failure". Duo heard Heero order her to warn Trowa and Quatre of possible danger. Heero had then broken the device. They were officially on their own now.

So what were they going to do? Would they leave Diana to her fate? Maybe the old Heero would have, but... no. If he'd been "changed" by Quatre and Relena, then he valued life. Even during the war Heero wouldn't kill him despite how much he obviously wanted to – and for more reasons than his constant liability. Heero just didn't really like him. No, Heero wouldn't like that option. And it went against Wufei's code.

That didn't answer the question of just what the hell they were going to do. Dammit!

"I thought I was the one who was standing watch," Wufei called softly, and Duo jumped. He turned sheepishly to the man. "Oops," he murmured, and Wufei rolled his eyes. Then he moved from his perch against the opposite wall and came and stooped beside Duo, balancing on the balls of his feet. This action did not fail to shock the hell out of Duo. It was difficult to see Wufei in the blackness of the cave, impossible to read his face. They didn't dare make a fire.

"Your eyes still look a bit glazed," Wufei commented. Duo wondered if he imagined the worry in Wufei's voice.

"I'm fine," Duo stated, but his words were obviously a bit too defensive.

Wufei, for his part, snorted. "Yeah, you're just peachy."

And that was a word Duo had never expected to hear from Wufei. It made his mind go momentarily blank. "What?"

Wufei chuckled. Then, without warning, he sat down on Duo's right. Duo was left blinking while Wufei leaned against the wall and drew his right knee up to his chest. Wufei stared across the cave. "We... have not seen a lot of you since the war, Maxwell."

Oh, hell. Were they really going to have this conversation?

"Heero disappeared for a while after Maremaia," Wufei continued. "And then you disappeared, as well."

i Because I couldn't take anymore/i Duo thought, but he said nothing aloud.

Wufei glanced sidelong at him, and he was close enough for Duo to see an intensity in his eyes. "When Heero returned, you were still gone. And you never came back."

Duo had to look away. He couldn't say anything that belonged to the happy-go-lucky jester they had known, and everything else seemed a bit too self-deprecating.

Wufei sighed. "Yuy looked you up and found that you'd begun a business with Hilde Schbeiker. When he went to her, she'd told him that the two of you had split up. When he tried to find you again, the files after Hilde were completely empty."

Duo shrugged. It was true that he'd deleted the files in case someone wanted to find him. Too bad Fate had had other plans, despite everything. Too bad he'd been found again.

"Why did you run away from us?" Wufei finally asked, no longer skirting around the issue.

Duo closed his eyes. "Because I run and I hide," he whispered finally. He felt the urge to do the same right then and squelched it.

Wufei's brow furrowed... Duo could tell because he sounded confused. "Why?"

"Are you saying that you actually _wante_-" Duo broke off what he was saying, frustrated. He stood suddenly, stepping away from Wufei. He put his arms around his shoulders, hugging himself. He told himself it was because he was cold, but he knew it was a lie. He turned back around to Wufei and made himself speak the words. "You guys..." He stopped, then tried again. How it hurt to open up these wounds. "It was time I left," he said finally.

Wufei stood then, as well, and when he did Duo saw in his eyes that he had heard more than what Duo had said. Wufei came forward until he stood in front of Duo – he was an inch or two taller. He placed his hands on Duo's shoulders, and Duo's arms fell in surprise. Wufei's eyes were full of sadness. "I believe I understand," the Chinese man murmured quietly, searching Duo's eyes. "You were the one who had originally tried to give us everything, and we shoved it back in your face. We did not understand what you were offering... but that is no excuse. You wanted to give us kindness, companionship... and in return received nothing but scorn."

Duo found himself in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. Was this even Wufei? Was this another clone? The attack of the evil pod people? What the hell?

"After the war we began to understand," Wufei continued. "We finally realized what you had been offering all that time, but you were no longer there to reap the rewards."

"'Fei, I didn't-"

"You did," Wufei said simply. "We owe you, Maxwell."

"You – what?" Duo was even more shocked by this. "You owe me nothing. I-"

Wufei merely shook his head. "We never even accepted who you were," he continued sadly.

Okay, if Wufei was going to get emotional, Duo was going to run screaming from this cave. "Look, Wufei," Duo said, and his voice when he spoke was firm, "it's the past. And I'll admit, I was pretty unprofessional. Just drop this, okay?"

Duo's got kind of creeped out when Wufei's eyes saddened in understanding once again. What the hell – did the man learn ESP or something? Thankfully, the Chinese warrior nodded slightly and dropped his arms. There was an awkward moment in which Wufei stared intensely into Duo's eyes. Then Wufei again took up his spot on the opposite wall. "Get some sleep, Maxwell," he called out. "We have a long day ahead of us."

Duo nodded, thankful for the respite from the Land of Weird and even more grateful for Heero's uninterrupted breathing. He tried to find a position in which he could comfortably lie down. It took him a long time to finally get to sleep, his pains and thoughts making it take longer than it should.

* * *

Wufei watched Duo sleep for a long time, both worried and concerned. While the four of them had managed to find something together after the war, Duo had not. What shamed Chang Wufei was the realization that the only reason he'd been able to accept his friendship with the other pilots was the memory of Duo Maxwell and all that he had been for them during the war. They had given him nothing in return, and so he had suffered on his own.

No more. Wufei swore on his honor that he would stick with Maxwell as Maxwell had once stuck with him, and hope that the braided man would see that they would scorn his friendship no more.

* * *

Dawn never touched the deep recesses of the cave, but they were all up when it cracked the sky nevertheless. Heero had stood watch to this point and was already checking his gun by the time Duo made his way back to the land of the aware. He quickly got up... but there wasn't much else for him to do.

Note, of course, that the "quickly" hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and the bruises he'd been too tired to feel last night were more than a little obvious now.

He checked himself over once he was standing and grimaced at what he saw. His entire body seemed to be caked in bruises and cuts. While he had managed to save his face – from heavy damage, at least – the bruises on his arms made them difficult to move. His bad left arm was in even more pain, since he had hardly begun recovering from the bullet wound he'd received. No one had bothered to put it in a sling, however, since they all knew that they would be fighting again and the sling would be a hindrance.

"Commander Une sent us a land vehicle," Heero said, disrupting Duo's thoughts. The way he said it made the true meaning obvious – she's sent someone to figure out what happened here, and Heero took care of them. Duo wondered where he'd stashed them and how long he'd knocked them out for. Heero wouldn't have killed them, of course. Duo didn't doubt that. "It was left in front of the house three oh-eight this morning."

Duo and Wufei both nodded shortly in confirmation. Did Duo imagine the quick look of concern he thought he saw Heero send his way?

"We need to assess the vehicle," Heero continued, and Duo decided that his delusional mind was producing illusions. He easily recognized Heero's next look to be that of annoyance. "I will do that."

"Not alone, you won't," Duo declared.

"I will go with you." Chang sent Heero a sharp look, and then silent radio waves seemed to come off their bodies. Duo watched in confusion and awe. The two had this... silent-messaging thing that they did, where they spoke to each other without words.

Stupid to envy that.

"Yuy," Chang warned finally, and Heero finally capitulated and nodded. They both secreted out of the cave, leaving Duo momentarily alone.

Okay... so what in the hell had that been Had Heero seriously wanted to go out there unassisted? _Heero_ – the practically obsessive-compulsive tactician? What the hell for?

Duo ran his mind in tiny little circles and nursed his wounds in silence.

Speaking of what-the-hell, why had he been left unconscious? Why didn't those three finish him off? Didn't they say that they wanted to kill all of the Gundam pilots? So what gives? It would have taken them all of... what? Two seconds? To pin down Diana and then quickly and simply finish him off and said "to hell with him." Literally.

And that brought up the memory of his clone and he was left to shudder in remembrance. That guy's humanity had been sliced away, leaving only Shinigami. Only what he had been during the battles and the fighting – his own natural defense kicking in, sparing his own humanity from the carnage.

What the hell had those doctors done?

A pitiful groan sounded from their captive in the corner. Duo was amazed that the guy had slept through the entire night. The man couldn't have been a very strong soldier in this army or else he would have woken up sooner. That would make it easier to get information from the guy, but it would also limit the knowledge they could glean from him.

Duo looked at the exit Heero and Wufei had left through, but didn't see either of them. Duo looked around and quickly spotted his hunting knife by Heero's things – cleaned and ready to be used, too. That was Heero for you.

In less than four seconds Duo had his hunting knife pressed against their captive's throat and his Shinigami smile firmly in place. The man froze as soon as his eyes flickered open.

"Good morning, sunshine," Duo said breezily, lightly tapping the edge of the blade against the man's neck. "You look like shit, did you know that?"

"I-It's you," the man croaked. Duo wondered if the man had had nightmares.

"That's right," he said, voice both cheery and menacing. Shinigami was deadly – and, Duo had once thought, no longer necessary. He'd been perfectly content with that theory, but he'd been wrong. The world was still fucked over, and Shinigami still lived. Duo found himself feeling a little... disheartened by it all.

"Wh-What do you want from me?"

Duo's eyes hardened. "Your life," he answered, playing his knife slowly against the man's neck until a thin line of blood appeared. "I want to cut you," he continued, then gave a bored sigh. "Unfortunately, we have a little game we have to play first, you and I."

The man looked like he wanted to melt in the sun before he played any games with Shinigami.

"See, you're going to tell me everything I want to know, aren't you?"

The man's eyes went wild. "I-I won't tell you anything!"

Duo wanted to growl in annoyance, but instead he smiled in wild glee. "Ah, you're gonna make this last a while, aren't you?" He slid the knife down the man's neck, then his chest and stomach, then stopped right at the man's crotch. "I wonder if you're dear boss would like a fuck present from you..." His voice was low and contemplative – curious. He was sick with the realization that he could still do this without batting an eye.

"N-No! Don't... please..." And the guy started crying.

"Hey, don't you know that men don't cry?" Shinigami was a conversationalist – he worked mostly by scaring the enemy half to fucking death. Then he finished the job.

He cut a line down the man's pants.

"Don't! They'll kill me... they'll kill me..."

Duo hoped the man got quiet, lest the two goody-two-shoes Preventors heard. He had a feeling his interrogation methods would not be appreciated, even if they _did_ get the job done.

"That would be lucky." The man looked at him in confusion and shock. "Buddy," Shinigami breathed, and Duo's face pushed itself forward until their noses were touching. "You'll be wishing for that death once I'm done with you." He gave his captive a grin that didn't even begin to touch his eyes.

The man whimpered.

* * *

By the time Heero and Wufei returned – about ten minutes later – with an 'okay' on the car, the captive was crying uncontrollably and Duo was sitting beside the man, having successfully gotten all the information they could possibly glean from him.

"Duo, what the hell happened here?" Heero demanded in that icy undertone that made strong men shrink back and mumble like babies.

Duo, of course, had long since learned how to hide the pain that tone and look gave him and waved cheerily at them as they came to stand before the man. He had put his hunting knife away in its sheath on his leg. He also managed to swallow his more sarcastic comments. "Welcome back. This guy was nice enough to tell me where the enemy camp is, and will gladly go to Preventors HQ. Won't you, bud?" The guy's sobbing only got louder. Duo jumped up and clapped his hands together. "Okay! Who's ready to go?"

"Duo..." Heero warned.

"Oh, quit your crying," Duo told him... and froze when the captive was suddenly silent. He blushed at the looks on Heero's and Wufei's faces. "Well, come on, then!" he said briskly. He walked to the exit that Heero and Wufei had used.

* * *

Since Heero had destroyed his radio in a fit of temper, it was with Wufei's that they listened to make sure that Une was sending out men to check on the missing Preventors – who were now crammed in the closet in the house with a blubbering, burly bad guy – before simply listening in for new reports. Une would probably tell them not to use the radios too often, but it was better to listen anyway. The van turned out to be bullet-proof and nondescript, though Heero and Wufei had needed to dismantle a locating device embedded into the van. Of course, they had hardly harmed the van at all by doing so.

They drove through the path they had fought on just yesterday and headed to a place about 550 miles away called "Zzyzyx".

It was gonna be a long drive.

Duo realized quickly that neither Heero nor Wufei was going to listen to music _or_ continue a conversation. That... wasn't good.

How bored could he get? Well, after the first three hours, he was desperately trying to sleep. Jesus. Even during the war these guys were more communicative.

Hell, maybe he should take that back. At least before, if they had ignored his existence, they'd at least had the decency to ignore each others' existence, as well. Not this time – now they were talking quietly to one another, pointing to things on the map beside them (Une had stockpiled the van for her men... the white van... Duo wondered if it was the same one he'd seen before).

So Duo just sat in the back and tried to pretend he didn't exist the same way they could. It may have been the stupidest idea of his life, coming here thinking he could help Heero. More than ever, he realized just how very alone he was.

So he tried to fall asleep. It would have been easier if he were tired and not so full of aches and pains. He entertained himself with a chess game in his head and tried to ignore how pitifully lonely he felt.

* * *

"Yuy," Wufei growled, and Heero once again refused to answer "Yuy, for the love of God-"

"Chang, drop it." He was tense and on edge. It had started first thing in the morning when Chang had left the cave with him. He hadn't been left the hell alone since.

"Dammit, Heero, you're making this worse," Wufei hissed sharply. Heero knew he meant business when he started using first names. "You have been unnecessarily cruel to Duo ever since he came here."

"He put himself in danger-"

"Yuy, you are a fool if you don't realize he wants to be near us."

"You're a fool if you think that was even remotely intelligent of him-"

"Dammit, Yuy, are you so blind you don't see the man's in love?"

Heero managed to open his mouth, but then his jaw just kind of got stuck and his brain blanked on how to make sounds.

Wufei, of course, looked pissed, like he shouldn't have needed to say something so blatantly obvious. "Duo has gotten stuck in the same place we used to be, Heero," he said severely. "We all managed to get together and become friends, but Duo..."

"Friends." Heero managed to spit that word out, but it was bitter on his tongue. "He wants to be friends."

"Oh, for the love of-" Wufei looked out the windshield. "Pay attention to the road, Yuy."

Heero forced his eyes back to the front. The two were silent for a few minutes as he adjusted his speed – he'd been pushing the gas in tension – and got out of a truck's blind spot.

"You are hopeless," Wufei finally muttered. "From the start, Maxwell admitted that he would feel better if he were here with us. He'd obviously been speaking about you. You are oblivious if you have not seen the way he looks at you."

"The way..." Heero flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror. He saw Duo with his head against the window. His eyes were closed, but his breathing said he was still awake. "What do you mean?"

Chang's sigh was very loud. "Fool," he said tenderly, "he looks at you the same way you look at him."

Heero almost swerved into the next lane. "He... what?!" A neighboring car in the next lane gave out an irritated honk.

He saw Duo look up at him and realized his voice had risen. He quickly lowered it. "What the hell are you talking about, Chang?"

"Do you not remember the dinner you had with him?" Wufei demanded. "Did you not give me every little fucking detail? Are you that goddamn clueless?" Wufei's frustration level must have been high if he was going to curse all the time. "I'm giving you until the end of this horrendous fucking mission and then I'm going to tell him myself." He silenced Heero's next complaint with a growl. "You are being ridiculous!"

"If he cares so much, why doesn't he say anything?" Heero demanded – petulantly.

"What the hell, Yuy?" Chang snapped back. "Why aren't _you_ saying anything? You, who always says to follow your emotions? At least Maxwell admits that he runs and hides!"

Heero bit down on his retort and his temper. Wufei lapsed into silence as well, knowing that he was demanding a lot from his partner.

Heero stared sightlessly out the windshield. What... what should he do?

* * *

Was it pathetic to admit it hurt more to have it shown to him that they were trying to keep their conversation closed off from him? He had seen Heero look at him before lowering his voice once again.

He stared out the window beside him, cursing himself as a fool. He'd heard what Wufei had said last night. He'd thought the two of them... well, he'd hoped again... he'd hoped that a kinship was growing, that they...

Stupid.

The interstate never really changed in appearance, which made the ride unbearably monotonous. The sides of the interstate was made up of a forest or woods. Whatever. Trees. Maybe a couple houses. Maybe a wall for some ungodly reason or another. Signs. More signs. More trees.

Boring.

Usually he would be traveling in Deathscythe. After Deathscythe, he traveled alone. There was always music. Silence always seemed to eat at him. He always started _thinking_, introspective thoughts that ended up hurting him. It also just bored the snot out of him.

So here he was, in a car with two people who were successfully ignoring him – two people who's respect he wanted more than anyone's – with no sound and a day's travel still ahead of him.

He feared for Diana's life. The last dance could already be over. She could be beyond dead. He wondered shortly if that weren't better for her, but he grieved for her nonetheless.

She had been so kind to him. She was the only one who didn't ignore him, who didn't hurt him. She had found out that he loved Heero and she had hurt for him. She had been so kind, despite all that had happened to her. She...

She had reminded him of Sister Helen.

When memories of the church entered his head was when the restlessness hit.

"So!" he chirped, flinging his elbows on the backboard of the car and throwing on that Jester's Mask. To hell with them. Just like always – he would be ignored or it would be too quiet or... something... and then he would hide from the memories by pissing off these two men who he held in such high regard. "Did you guys know that mosquitoes can only see the color blue? Isn't that weird? Well, maybe not, because a human's blood is blue before it hits oxygen, but is that true for all animals?"

"Duo..." Wufei spoke up, but Duo heard no frustration this time... only sadness. That scared Duo even more.

"Can they see the color of our skin? Like are we gray or are we some sort of blue? We're probably gray. That way our veins show up like a neon light." He spoke quickly so as to silence that sorrow... pity?... in Wufei's voice.

"Well, at least they treat all men equally then, don't they?"

Duo... gaped. He could have sworn he just heard Heero Yuy make a joke... Heero had joined into Duo's little ramble and had made a joke? Heero... a joke? _The_ Heero? Omigod.

"Y-Yeah," Duo replied finally, "but it might also mean we're equal to cows."

Duo was rendered absolutely fucking speechless when Heero Yuy and Chang Wufei both burst into laughter. He thought about Twilight Zones and pod people and crazy aliens from outer space. Maybe he was still in the hospital hallucinating... but this hallucination seemed a bit too far-fetched, even for him.

"Well, Maxwell," Wufei chuckled – _Wufei **chuckled**_ – "perhaps there are some humans that are like cows?"

"You mean we make good burgers?" Heero spoke up, "or do you mean the way we milk our females?"

"Thank you, Yuy," Wufei said drolly, "for that lovely imagery."

Heero laughed at that.

Duo reeled at what he was hearing. His jesting usually resulted in pissing off these two. Now they were continuing his jokes? Now they were laughing?

Somehow... Duo felt further away from them than ever. How pathetic was that? Somehow, seeing these two so close to each other, so... calm and... loose... around each other when there had never been nearness with him around... Duo felt very alone.

"Seriously, Wufei, just how the hell are people like cows?" Heero asked. Duo could only look at how comfortable Heero seemed all of a sudden and he wanted to jump out of the car and run back (more like crawl if he jumped out at this speed, and that was if he didn't get run over) to his raggedy home and his pathetic job and disappear into his own little oblivion again. He didn't belong here. What in the hell had possessed him to come here? Even the fear for Heero's safety would be better than this: physical proof that he wasn't welcome in this world.

* * *

Duo listened as Heero and Wufei debated man's intelligence as related to cows, then as they switched to giraffes and even elephants and rhinos. He didn't speak much, but then, his input wasn't necessary, didn't seem to even be expected. He may as well have been forgotten... they may as well have been talking quietly again.

The conversation was... surreal. They laughed all the time – and spoke cynical, sarcastic, dry humor that would have made Duo choke with laughter if he weren't frozen in shock.

He finally decided to just get some sleep and leaned his head back. His body hurt. His head hurt – especially the part that had been grazed by the bullet, damn but that throbbed. No real bad concussion, though – he'd been injured enough before that his body was practically immune, or at least that's how it seemed. His... heart hurt. When had everything changed? When had these two become such good friends? And what really hurt... was that they'd done it all without him. Like he wasn't a part of their new world at all. He was merely a memory of the past.

Was he dead to them?

* * *

Heero triple-checked before he said anything – yes, Duo was asleep. "He's hurting."

"Of course he is," Wufei hissed. "He's been alone all this time."

Heero wondered at that. "Duo is never alone. He must have made friends-"

Wufei snorted. "Yes, I've seen so many of them." Wufei glared at Heero. _Uh-oh. Lecture time._ "Would friends allow someone to live in those conditions?"

That thought made Heero feel even worse. "We aren't very good friends, then, are we?"

Wufei was silent at that. _No,_ Heero feared, seeing the cuts and bruises all over Duo's body, _We aren't good friends to you at all, are we, Duo?_

* * *

Duo woke up when Heero and Wufei switched sides and Wufei took the wheel. He opened his mouth to make an offer to drive, but for some reason thought it would be better to maintain silence and again closed his mouth.

Wufei looked back as Heero took his seat. "Oh, you're awake? We're about to get some fast food. Is that all right?"

Duo nodded. A part of him wanted to joke about 'no Taco Bell' but... really? He just didn't feel like he had the energy to maintain the jester. He still felt incredibly tired. It was all exhaustion – physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion. He was just too damn tired. He hurt. He ached. Food? Sure, he was hungry. And he needed the energy. But he didn't want to stay awake long enough to get it.

He didn't want to be awake.

Okay, this was bullshit. He was unhappy when the two Brothers Grimm were so damn... i grim /i , and now he was unhappy when they were laughing? What kind of selfish jerk was he that he hated thei happiness?

But he didn't hate it. He... envied it.

The two in the front were back to speaking quietly again. Duo didn't bother trying to hear, didn't bother to try to lip-read. If they didn't want him to lip-read, he wouldn't be able to. And to be honest... a part of him wallowed in the loneliness. He was, after all, a martyr at heart. Little Duo will suffer in silence, thank you very much.

He looked out the window. The scene was one of a dark sunset – the violets and blues were deep... even the red looked more like the color of dried blood.

Darkness. At least the weather was with him.

He wondered idly about what they were talking about... what they were excluding him from. If it was about the mission, he should know... but damned if he would ask. And maybe they considered him to be just as useless now as they thought during the war. If it was about how useless he was...

But dammit, he had fought three of the fuckers at once! Heero and Wufei had only fought against one each. He had been a Gundam pilot, same as them. They'd all gone through rigorous training. Dammit, why wasn't he seen as an equal?!

* * *

They ate McDonald's. None of them really liked the greasy food (Duo _did_ take delight in the milkshake, though), but it was the best they could do. They had to stay on the road.

Heero and Wufei had gotten salads while Duo had gotten a burger. He knew very well that salads had lettuce in them, and he did not trust lettuce from fast food joints. Hello? He worked in one that made lettuce every day. He _knew_.

A tiny, sadistic part of him took pleasure in them eating it.

He slurped his milkshake while they quietly drank their sodas – Diet Coke. What was the point of that? Might as well get the good stuff. Duo had good enough metabolism to take it without a problem.

Heero ate quickly, then closed his eyes and... went to sleep. Made sense, since they were obviously planning to switch off together... as if Duo didn't exist.

Of course, once Heero was asleep, Duo wanted to be, as well. The last thing he needed was Wufei starting another one of those conversations.

He closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep. He could only hope this whole damn thing ended soon.

* * *

A/N: Well, it's been a long time, but I kept my promise. Now, here's a question: do you want me to take forever for an update again, or do you want a quick one? Choose and let me know via comment: 500 for each review or one less day (starting at about three weeks) for each review? It's up to you - the highest vote wins. And, of course, this is another way to bribe you into commenting, but... oh well. It actually DOES have a purpose this time.

And look! A plotline! Hahahahahaha...


	14. Decisions

Disclaimer: Yeah, right. Like I have the money to own them.

Warnings: Intense cursing, angst. Continuation of plotline.

* * *

Only You

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

Duo managed to fall asleep again, waking up when Heero and Wufei switched out again. The clock of the van glowed. Two o'clock. He felt stiff and sore. He doubted he wouldn't groan if he moved. 

But of course he was silent, subtly stretching his muscles and watching Heero and Wufei take their seats. He wanted once again to offer his help. He wanted to ask how much further – how much longer – they had to travel.

But he was silent.

Well, why not? What the hell was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? He was obviously the odd man out. First, during the war, because he was too 'laid back'. Now... just what the hell _was_ he now? To hell if he knew. Just... the odd man out.

The radio crackled to an interesting yelp of distress. Apparently the Preventors and the captive had finally been found. Heero made a cynical comment about slow cops, to which Wufei interjected a reminder of their own occupations, which set off another round of hilarious banter that would have had Duo rolling if... if it weren't Heero and Wufei.

But worse, infinitely worse, Wufei seemed to take pity on him.

"I think we can safely assume that most people, compared to us, are just going to seem slow," Wufei interjected finally, about five minutes into the 'argument'. "Right, Maxwell?"

Duo, shocked by a statement – question – whatever – directed at him, only managed a small, "yeah." Then he found himself speaking on autopilot – Jester Mask on full force, as usual. No planning necessary to activate that which was so integral. "You wouldn't believe how slow some employees at Taco Bell are. For people working at fast food, they move like they're trapped in glaciers."

There was an awkward silence.

More silence. What the hell...?

"Dammit," Heero cursed.

Oh. Yeah. Everyone was pissed about him working at Taco Bell. Was it a taboo topic or something? That didn't seem right. There were some truly fucking hilarious fast food stories he could tell. These guys just had no sense of humor.

He decided he was going to be petty. "But physical slow is nothing to mental slow. I have met some seriously stupid people working at Taco Bell." He spat those two words out – Taco Bell. _Yeah. I work there. Or did. Fucking deal with it._ "There was one guy who came into Taco Bell – _Taco_ Bell – and asked for a burger." Wufei, at least, gave out a shocked little chuckle. Heero was stoically silent. Interesting, Duo mused self-deprecatingly, how Heero could laugh easily with Wufei but clammed up when he spoke.

"You must be joking," Wufei managed. At least he was trying.

"I shit you not," Duo solemnly intoned. "A man came up asking for a burger on headset. I had no idea what to tell the guy. There was a Burger King right down the street. Why didn't he try there?"

Wufei actually snickered. "You didn't tell him that," he said in an admonishing tone.

"You kidding me? I wanted to... I had to momentarily turn off my speaker _and_ bite my tongue. I deserve a medal."

"You will not be returning to that place," Heero interjected. His voice was sharp, almost accusing. He was issuing an order.

Duo decided pettiness was definitely what the doctor ordered... he deliberately misunderstood. "Well, no, not for a while. The place was completely demolished. I think we can safely assume-"

"Ever."

Fuck him, Duo decided again. He was making a lot of stupid, random decisions, but he was damned if he'd allow himself to be pushed around. Fine – he didn't belong. He never had. He wanted to. With everything in him, he wanted to belong around these two men who meant so much to him. One whom he loved... the other whom he respected above all others (but one, of course). These two and the other two, one whom he'd always thought of as a sort of brother, someone he could understand. The other who loved said brother with everything in _his_ heart.

Oh, how he yearned.

But fuck it. Every minute he was with these guys, it was made more and more clear that he didn't belong. Wufei may have paid attention to him last night – that didn't mean anything. Damned if he'd get his hopes up. That would be disgustingly naïve of him – and he wasn't naïve. He was many things, but not naïve.

This was what he'd told himself when he'd been in his half-sleep, almost there but not quite. Fuck them. He'll get this job done. He'll finish it and help them save Diane. He would assist in any way he could.

And then he'd disappear again.

"Hate to break this to ya, man, but I kinda don't answer to you." Street slang, with the street attitude. All hidden behind a politely cheerful tone. The meaning, however, couldn't be masked. _Don't fucking mess with me._

There was that silence again, tense and ready to spring. Duo found himself tense as if to enter battle. A part of him accepted that he was. He waited for Heero's next move.

Wufei sighed. Loudly. In a long-suffering tone. "The two of you," he muttered, then raised his voice. "Duo's life is his own." Duo nodded in accord. "However," he continued, and made Duo tense even more. "If we must tie you down, we will prevent you from returning. We will help you get a real job."

Duo literally bristled. "Bullshi-"

"I will not argue about this," Wufei stopped him short. His voice gentled. "Duo, you are our friend. We worry for you."

Duo stilled.

He saw Heero tense and almost laughed, but had a feeling that would lead to something embarrassing. Friends. How can they be friends? It was far too late to say something as... as... trite... not trite, but... lame... as that. Friends. He wanted to spit the word back into Wufei's face.

There was that damnable sad understanding again. Duo saw it on Wufei's face immediately, a look so totally foreign on his face as to be a mask of his own. But Wufei was too proud for that... wasn't he? Wasn't Wufei too proud for faking things, too? What use would such a proud warrior have for pitying the weak? Last time Duo had checked, he'd had no tolerance for it.

It seemed everyone had changed but him.

No, that wasn't true. Duo had changed... but he was the only one who had changed for the worse. Heero now talked and laughed. Wufei now had concern for others. Quatre... shit, Quatre had managed to become a hugely successful businessman without losing that almost-creepy innocence and kindness. Trowa had become more social – he'd had to, Duo guessed, since he hung out with Quatre. There was definitely a Thing between them, a connection. He wasn't blind. He wasn't stupid.

He was the only one who'd fallen.

"You do not believe me," Wufei murmured. It wasn't a question, and it wasn't something Duo would answer even if it was. After all, why _should_ he believe them?

He was in a very petulant mood.

Wufei sighed again, a sadder, softer sigh. Heero still said nothing. Nothing. Like a condemnation in and of itself. His silence spoke for him – he didn't agree with what Wufei said. He didn't agree.

Wufei opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped when he saw Duo's body tense again. His brows knitted. "Duo..."

And why was his first name being used? What was with that?

"Look," Duo cut in, deciding to nip this sucker in the bud before it bloomed into a full-scale bloodfest. "I don't need to be coddled. In fact, I'll chop your arm if you try. I'm not some wimp. I'm a fucking ex-Gundam pilot. I know I'm not one of you Preventors, but I'll bet that even without being in the business for a year, I'm still better than most of your damn men. Stop treating me like a fucking invalid. I'm here now; you're gonna have to have me as a partner, too, at least until this is over. I promise I'll leave you alone after this. I won't bother you again." Heero made an unidentifiable noise. Duo ignored it, not wanting to analyze its meaning too closely. If he were stupid, he would have misinterpreted the sound as distress.

"Maxwell," Wufei said firmly, but this time Heero cut in.

"You shouldn't be here. You're right; you aren't a Preventor."

"Yuy," Wufei hissed.

"You aren't supposed to be here," Heero repeated. Wufei growled. "You aren't a part of the team." Duo had to use every ounce of his learned control to keep from wincing and curling into himself a bit. Talk about a punch in the gut.

"Yuy," Wufei snapped. Heero apparently lost it.

"Shut up, Chang. You know I'm right. How long has it been since he's seen the battlefield? How long since he's fought? He's not a part of the Preventors. He's not one of us."

"Yuy, shut the fuck up." There was a short pause while everyone in the van digested the shock of hearing Chang Wufei say that word. "You need to think about what-"

"Dammit, Duo's gotten himself into something he has no right-"

"What do you know about the man's rights-"

"I know he's being a fucking baka, as usual-"

"Yuy, _you're_ the one acting foolish-"

"He had no right coming and joining-"

"I've already told you-"

"Shut up!" Duo shouted, putting his hands over his ears. They stopped arguing, but Wufei was the only one who turned to him. Heero kept his eyes straight ahead, his body tense as a board. "Just shut up! Stop fighting! I said I'd leave – I'd promised I'd leave! So just shut up!"

The van jerked in the lane, thanks to Heero's unsteady hands at the wheel. He quickly got them back under control. No one beeped this time.

"Maxwell, we don't-"

"Don't speak for him!" Duo finally snapped. To hell with this. "Don't speak for him – you can't answer for someone else. Let him speak for himself." Even though he already knew the answer... even though it would kill him to hear it. He was a fucking masochist.

And he didn't want these two, who had become such good friends, fighting over him. Wufei, whose honor demanded he be kind to an old comrade, and Heero... Heero, who still thought of him as a liability.

"You shouldn't be here," Heero said quietly. Wufei, in response, let out another growl. Duo saw his fist clench. If they hadn't been on the road, Duo thought Heero might have gotten decked.

"Yeah, well, it's too late for that now, isn't it?" He couldn't help the bitterness in his voice. "Guess you're just gonna have to deal with me, at least for another few days. Until this is done. I'm going to help Diana, even if you ditch me on the side of the road."

"Don't tempt me," Heero muttered.

Duo bit down on the next comment he could have made - "why not?" - because it didn't sound like a smart move. And he'd already taken enough jabs to the soul, thanks.

The van got disturbingly quiet once again, uninterrupted and sinister. Duo felt trapped suddenly, more than he had before. Almost claustrophobic. He needed to get the hell away from these two, the two men whose respect he'd once held above all else. Whose respect he still held above all else.

* * *

There was no more sleep for him. His body was already starting to feel lethargic from too much sleep. He didn't need any more, and his battle instincts demanded a sharp focus. That escape was out. He was stuck sitting again. There was not only tension between himself and the two Preventors in the front but also between said Preventors. No one was acknowledging the others' existence. 

If he thought the trip had been long and tedious before, those last hours were excruciating.

* * *

They made it to Zzyzyx without a problem. The problem was heading to the building they wanted within Zzyzyx. The town was basically a manufacturing center in disguise. There were plenty of big buildings, and traveling around looking for one in particular would make them stick out like sore thumbs. Walking around it would be suspicious, as well. Driving slowly would be a huge tip-off. They had to keep their eyes wide open, take a quick-yet-efficient look at the building, and somehow find a way to sneak in. 

All to save a woman who may already be dead.

Though, Duo supposed, they also seemed ready to take the matters into their own hands – Gundam-style. Fuck lawyers and courts.

Well, at least that's how he saw it.

He'd also spent some time in half-sleep thinking about his allies' strengths and weaknesses. Thinking about his own battle strategies. They would have to change. He wouldn't be able to fight as himself. He thought of Wufei's fighting, Heero's fighting, Quatre and Trowa... thought of all of them. Thought of trying to integrate their fighting into his own, then dismissed it. That would be monumentally stupid – the clones already knew their own battle strategies. He had needed to create his own new battle tactics. He knew he was pretty creative. He thought he might be able to manage it, if he had a fair fight. One on one, two on one. He'd be better prepared – he'd be able to fight better. Only two. Not three. Not three again. He already knew – new battle tactics or not – he'd get his ass whipped.

Shit, in the shape he was in, his enemies didn't need to fight with full strength. Maybe he'd be in deep shit with just two. His body was weak. He should be dead. He knew that once he stepped out of the car, he'd feel aches and pains that he'd managed to irritate by sitting still in the same basic position for a long period of time. His head throbbed. Every inch of him felt like it was black and blue. Most of him was. His arms were the worst, since he'd blocked the enemies' enormously strong attacks. His bad arm throbbed, as well. With every fucking heartbeat. He knew that if he tried to run, his breathing would be labored. That would be because of his cracked ribs.

He was supremely lucky he had no broken bones – cracked, fractured. In the next fight, they _would_ break. But not yet.

Damn. He may be completely useless in this next battle.

No. No. He wouldn't be useless. He would show Heero wrong. Heero, who had never accepted him as a Gundam pilot. Because he laughed. Because he seemed like such a... a normal teenager. Hello?! That was the whole point – no one looked twice at him. It was Stoic Heero, Super-Perfect Heero who seemed completely abnormal – no pain, no interest, no smiles. Serious, Hateful Heero. He was the one who turned eyes. Inconspicuous his ass.

He was just as worthy as them. Just as strong. How many missions had he completed? Granted, he'd gotten caught – but hadn't Heero, too? He could've sworn he'd shared that damn cell with Mr. Perfect-Fucking-Yuy and Wufei. Yup. He definitely remembered that.

So fuck them. Hadn't he said that already? Well, he'd say it however many times he wanted. Bastards. He'd done everything to be one of them. To gain another pack, another family. After being alone for so long... the Sweepers just weren't the same. He'd wanted the pack again, like with Solo. Long, long dead Solo. A gang that relied on each other, that stood up for one another. He'd thought they could be...

He'd been so damn stupid.

They all found the building at the same time, studied it. It was about the same size as the others, set further away from the road, a few stories higher. Looked like an office building, but the windows were shaded a bit and certainly not as easy to see through as the other buildings. If they weren't ex-Gundam pilots, they would have thought it was because the building wasn't close to the street lamps. There were guards fucking _everywhere_. Company was expected.

Good. They had a welcoming committee. Nothing like shooting up a flare that read 'we're right here'. Bad guys were fucking stupid sometimes.

The problem was that there were only three of them with only a minor amount of weapons. And they had clones waiting for them. And they had Diana. And of the three, one was practically in a hospital bed. The others had sustained minor injuries – bruises, scrapes. Heero's shirt had caught the sharp end of a blade, but his skin hadn't even seen a paper cut. Duo was both relieved and pissed at the same time. Relieved because Heero was okay. Pissed because, dammit, _he'd_ been having a little bit of a dilemma and those two hadn't had much of a problem at all. Duo told himself it was because he'd had three enemies to fight and someone to protect at the same time, but it gnawed at him.

"Okay." Heero and Wufei looked at each other – there was that infinitely irritating ESP thing again – that talking without words. Duo didn't want to envy it. Didn't want to wish. But... he did anyway.

He was such a fucking baka.

They found a dinky little motel and grabbed a room for the night, despite the time. They didn't have much to bring in – they brought handguns and that was it.

Duo, of course, had to bite his tongue to bleeding to keep from crying out. Moving was worse than he'd thought it would be. He felt agony ripple through him and tried not to think of the recovery ahead of him... if he lived.

You know, maybe it would be better if he died in this little escapade. Wouldn't have to worry about bills... wouldn't have to go back to a lonely, empty house. Shit. He'd have to disappear after this. He wouldn't even have that house to go to. Damn.

Yeah. Definitely better if he died. But after he saved Diana, not before.

They all sat around, on the bed or standing. Duo, exhausted after only that much movement, saton the bed, Heero on the chair by the black, rusted window. Wufei stood, leaning against the nightstand. He gazed uneasily at the walls. Duo wanted to laugh, wanted to mock his cleanliness. _Hate to break this one to you,_ he thought silently, _but if you're tired enough, you don't exactly care what's around you as long as it doesn't mean you physical harm_.

He looked around the room. There were two beds that looked soggy despite being clean, a nightstand currently occupied as a sort of wall or post and stained by what was hopefully water (Duo highly doubted it), a horrible watercolor that may have been a field or may have been an accident, a tiny bathroom with a shower stall Duo thought manageable but that made Heero and Wufei wince, a chair that Duo would rather _not_ sit in since he knew better, and a window that was probably stuck shut and curtains that were also mysteriously stained. There was a television, old as the hills or perhaps even older. The remote was long lost/stolen, though Duo couldn't understand the monetary value of... a remote control. There was a lamp that couldn't shine light further than a five foot radius. Wufei was successfully blocking it for most of the room.

The plan they laid out was half-assed at best. They didn't have time to think of something ridiculously complicated, and those usually blew up in someone's face, anyway. No, they're plan was simple – go in, grab Diana back (somehow), and do as much damage as possible. They would definitely draw out the clones. For this reason, all three of them would fuck over as much of the place as possible when they split up – the best way to draw the five into more even combat. Of course, that, too, had the chance of blowing up in their faces, especially since Duo knew he probably wouldn't be able to take one of the fuckers down, let alone two.

And he was in too much pain to censure his damn language. Deal with it.

They checked their handguns and went back out to the car. They drove within three miles of their destination and stopped by the forest border on the edge of town. They unpacked the few weapons in the van and other goodies – a compass and three headsets. The compass confirmed their direction as they slipped through the trees and back into the development. Duo, for his part, didn't lag behind. The adrenaline even made it possible for him to not hold his ribs in pain or give thought to his bad arm. A part of him really wondered if that was an improvement.

They reached the building without a glitch, but then, this was the ridiculously easy part of the ridiculous plan. The next part was the part that could easily kill him and Heero and Wufei. This plan needed him battle-ready. For these two and Diana, he would do whatever he could.

He just prayed he could hold out that long.

* * *

A/N: Not nearly as long, but it's come out sooner. There were a few more people asking for this, but I tried to keep it marginally long, anyway. I don't think I'm going to be making any more 1000 or 2000 long chapters. Those seem ludicrously short.

Please tell me what you think and whether you want me to continue this. Is it long enough? Argue if it isn't. I'll be happy to do what I can to lengthen it within the same basic time.

A small warning: When I'm on my vacation, I'll be going somewhere where I can't get any Internet service. This may be coming out late, like in February or something. Enough reviews might get out another chapter before I go on vacay, but I'm not sure. I apologize for this.


	15. Rescue Mission

Christmas special! Look who found out how to get the Internet down here! Congratulate me, worship me - I almost broke my laptop for this!

**Disclaimer:** Gundam Wing is not mine. Duh.

* * *

They were ready to go in when two figures came out from the trees next to them.

Heero's gun was up before Wufei's or Duo's, but all of them had the guns aimed at the hearts of the oncoming silhouettes. Only when they heard that familiar chuckle did Wufei and Heero lower their guns. Only Duo, remembering how the bald one had momentarily sounded like Trowa, kept his gun up.

When Trowa was confirmed, Duo lowered his gun. A smaller form stepped out from behind Trowa with a huff. "I can take care of myself," the small blond murmured, glaring at Trowa. The taller man only grinned, rather unrepentant, and shrugged.

"What are you two doing here?" Wufei asked, bewildered. Duo took a short moment to note that Trowa and Quatre got quite a warmer welcome than he had.

"We got the message from Lady Une to watch out for danger," Quatre began.

"Which of course meant that you two managed to get in trouble," Trowa interjected dryly.

"We checked on Duo and found out he wasn't at home." Quatre took the chance to glare at Duo. He, unlike Trowa, looked away. Quatre was silent for a moment before continuing. "We came to find you all."

"It was unnecessary," Heero began.

"Obviously." Duo saw Trowa looking at him and knew Trowa was subtly commenting on his condition. "Besides, us pilots have to stick together."

There was a double innuendo there that Duo studiously ignored.

"What's happened?" Quatre asked, getting into his Leader Mode. Duo watched as Quatre shifted into a firmer stance. He was reminded of Quatre in the final battles of the war – the leader who had taken them through to victory with the Zero system.

Heero briefed him tersely on the key points – Jocker, the clones, and Diana's capture. They both listened intently, but Quatre's eyes were, as usual, more expressive than Trowa's. His blue orbs were wide and filled with horror. Trowa's expressions were less obvious but still included a small widening of his green eyes and a thinning of his lips.

The run-down cost the team their easy entrance when the guards walked nearby. They had to wait a few minutes to resume their conversation. They all quickly noted that, if one group was walking around, other groups were walking around. There were probably others that were standing watch at various points. It was what Duo had long-ago termed a 'double-guard', because sometimes the places watched were watched by two separate sets of guards. It made taking them out or sneaking past them difficult.

Teams were divided, with Heero going alone (Duo had to swallow his words of protest, lodging them in his throat and making him have to merely nod when they were all asked if they were ready to go), Duo and Wufei together, and Trowa and Quatre together. Wufei warned Trowa and Quatre to beware of their fighting patterns and then they parted.

Duo and Wufei's job was to run in and find Diana – Heero to gain data and radio it in to the others, setting crude bombs during the search for the data, Trowa and Quatre to draw attention to themselves. The clones would know immediately that they were decoys and would set after Duo, Heero, and Wufei. Trowa and Quatre would only have to deal with the bastards that swarmed them until Heero's bombs went off. Then they would enter the building and join Heero. The three of them would search for Jocker.

Duo and Wufei entered after Heero, Duo watching the posts and Wufei watching the walkers. They slipped inside by skirting into a window – one Duo conveniently knew exactly how to open. Wufei watched Duo's hands, steady despite the fear and worry hammering through him. Duo had a feeling Wufei noticed how he was biting the inside of his lip to bleeding to accomplish this task. The need for silence was most likely the only reason Wufei made no comment.

They slipped easily inside. Duo's internal clock told him they had another four and a half minutes until Quatre and Trowa would begin their part of the plan. They were able to slip past most of the guards without a problem, but Wufei had to take a few out. Duo was always pushed back, which would have pissed him off if he could breath without fearing it would be too loud. Damn but his ribs were really starting to hurt.

The corridors were thin and bare – no where to hide. The lighting was bright, all the rooms locked. The guards in the corridors were thin, meaning they were no where close to where they had to be. Duo unlocked another door and they slipped inside. They had two more minutes.

When Duo closed the door, he nodded to the skinny, tiny little grate on the side of the wall. "We have to go higher," he said, and Wufei nodded. Wufei hesitated for a moment, and Duo knew he was considering who should go first. If Duo went first here, he could enter into enemy territory alone. If Wufei went first and someone interrupted them, Duo would have to face the enemy alone for a while.

Finally, Duo answered Wufei's question for him. "If I don't go first, I don't know if I'll be able to pull myself up."

Wufei looked... pained. "Duo..."

"Look, we're here and we have to finish it," Duo hissed. "Let's just go."

Wufei hesitated for another moment, then gently lifted Duo up into the grate. Duo tasted blood on his lip from biting down his moan. He moved forward, checking the structure to find exactly where he could expect to fins himself if he followed each of the grates. The place was huge, practically a skyscraper. They needed to get up to the next level quickly. Unfortunately, his wounds made it impossible.

Wufei came up behind him and Duo moved forward again, halting when a fork came. He wanted to go right, but he waited to feel Wufei's touch on his right leg before he turned.

They managed to make it to the fourth level before their two minutes were up. Alarms went up quickly, muted within the strict confines of the grate. Duo gritted his teeth and forced himself to move faster. It would not be good for them to be caught in the grate, by the bomb or by something even more serious. He heard Wufei on his heels.

It took them far too long to get to the higher floors, and even then they didn't know exactly which floor to be on. Duo stopped on the eighth floor and approached a dark room – not impossible for a guard to be in there, but improbable. Especially when another bomb was going off.

He hoped Quatre and Trowa were alright.

He couldn't allow himself to think about Heero.

He couldn't believe his luck when he dropped from the grate. There was no one in the room, which was good because his fall jarred his ribs. He managed to get out of Wufei's way before he fell to one knee and clutched his ribs like he'd run forty miles straight. His gasping was kept quiet, which meant it took him longer to settle.

Wufei's look was promptly ignored.

They both stared at the door for a moment, unable to move toward it. Finally Wufei grunted and grabbed the handle, carefully twisting it. Duo fell in behind him, ever wary of approaching enemies.

They made it down the hall to the stairs, after which came a set of aerobics that had Duo gritting his teeth in agony. Wufei ended up holding Duo's elbow, a movement that Duo hadn't noticed whatsoever until he almost fell and found himself supported by Wufei's reassuring weight. Duo bit his wrist and used the distraction to regain control. Wufei's concerned gaze only sharpened.

"Diana," was all Duo had to gasp out, however, and they were moving again.

Neither of them was surprised to find the tenth floor still guarded, nor were they shocked to see that the guards weren't all the big and bulky variety. Still, seeing Baldy and the red-haired Quatre made Duo nervous.

"Ah, the quiet couple," Duo noted for Wufei's benefit, holding himself up straight. Last thing he needed to do was announce any louder just how fucked up he was. "What fortuitous luck to find you here." Yeah, right.

"You live," Baldy noted, but his voice wasn't angry or grim. No – it sounded amused. He wanted to fight Duo again? "You truly are a worthy adversary."

Okay, he really didn't need to be complimented by people who wanted to kill him. "I like the Trowa with hair more, personally."

A chuckle. God, the man sounded a lot like the real Trowa. It was... eerie. Haunting.

"If you don't mind," Wufei cut in, his tone dry, "I would like to kill you quickly and be on my way." His right hand lifted, his gun aimed at Baldy's head. Like lightning, Fake Quatre's gun was up, as well. Baldy and Duo lifted theirs in the next second.

Baldy smiled slightly – creepily, disturbingly like Trowa himself. "I'm afraid you're outmatched."

They all knew Baldy meant that Duo wasn't well enough to pose a true threat.

"Hey," Duo said with mock affront, "my good looks count for something. I'm ahead of all of you in that department."

"I can hardly see your face," Trowa – Jesus, no, it wasn't Trowa, it was his clone – joked. The clone joked – just like Trowa. Oh, God. This was just making it harder to take the man out.

"Shall we get started, gentlemen?" Fake Quatre spoke up, and then they were all moving at once.

* * *

They were only facing one enemy – one clone – so Duo and Wufei would be facing two, as would Heero. Trowa was able to dodge the clone, but Quatre was the one who could truly understand any of the movements. They had Duo's clone – thanks to Duo's quick physical explanation of what the clones looked like, they knew which one they were facing – and Trowa wasn't as used to Duo's movements as Quatre was. Duo had been with Quatre after... after Heero had... after the colonies were targeted. They had trained with one another – they had learned one another's movements. Trowa, on the other hand, hadn't spent much time with Duo. Though the two knew the basics of one another, they had never spent as much time together as Quatre and Duo had.

The idea of altering their fighting style was difficult, but it was easier with only the one enemy to take down. The clone looked a little irritated, a little flushed – the grin would flicker fairly often. Quatre knew they would win this battle. The only question was how long it would take – and whether their victory would come fast enough.

* * *

Dammit.

He was unprepared to meet both the clones of himself and Wufei when they stalked up behind him. He had just found the information on where Diana is and had informed Wufei – the tenth floor, fifth door on the left. Then he'd turned to find Wufei's clone and his own standing and looking at him, smiling.

"You have sent your partner to his grave," Wufei's clone informed him.

"I doubt it," he countered dryly.

"If not him, then certainly your lover."

Heero stiffened. "What lover?" The last man he'd been with had only lasted about a week – and they hadn't spoken to one another since.

"Your precious Maxwell." The clone studied him with a gaze he knew all too well. "I am surprised that he lived. Oh-Three took too much of a liking to him."

Oh-Three. Trowa... Trowa's clone?

"Gentlemen, I would like to leave here in about five more minutes – can we hurry this up?" Shit. Shit. Now he was worried about Duo. "And he's not my lover," Heero added for good measure.

"Oh?" Wufei's clone bowed slightly. "Then I'm sorry to say you have wasted your chance at a moment of joy. Now you will die with regrets."

He didn't need to hear this. "Shut up!" he snapped, reining in his anger as he swiftly jumped for the clone's throat.

* * *

Duo was clumsy. He fought Quatre's clone since he knew Quatre better than Wufei – or at least Wufei knew Trowa better than Duo – but he was slow and only managing to injure himself more. At least Fake Quatre wasn't helping Baldy, who seemed to be having a few difficulties.

Fake Quatre was wholly different from the real Quatre when it came to attitude. Quatre – the real Quatre – would be speaking to him now, telling him that it would be better to give up – apologizing for what he had to do. Not this guy. He may have a similar build, a similar attack pattern, but he was nothing like Quatre.

He was easier to fight.

His peripheral vision caught Wufei landing another hit on Baldy, a punch that met his stomach. Baldy twirled away and round-house kicked, but the attack didn't meet Wufei's moves. Wufei seemed to be dancing. It was a complete change from his straight forward, militaristic fighting style. It was probably a bit sloppier, but Baldy still couldn't see what he was about to do. It made the fight more even.

Duo, on the other hand, didn't stand a chance. No matter how he moved, he was slower and infintely more sloppy than Wufei could ever be. If Wufei started line dancing as his attacks, Duo would still look more pathetic.

Blocking hurt because of his bruises all over his arms. Every movement jarred his ribs. His bad arm was equal to useless. All he had were his legs, which were the least injured of his body. But kicks were obvious after a while – he had to mix up his routine, and that made things even more difficult.

* * *

He was winning.

It was obvious after his opponent, the one Duo called "Baldy", stumbled slightly after somersaulting away from him. He pressed his advantage.

Moving fluidly was not difficult, but attacking without his military precision was. When he was about to attack, he found himself wanting to attack with straight precision – quick snaps, like a cobra. Instead he moved like a lynx mixed with a peacock. He didn't like his fighting style being synonymous with a peacock, but there it was.

Duo, on the other hand, usually moved like a panther. Hiding in the bushes and coming in for a quick, graceful kill. Right now he moved like an ox – testimony to his weariness. Wufei feared for his comrade. Duo was too injured – he shouldn't even be here at all. Not because he wasn't a Preventer, not because he was an outcast, but because he was hurt.

The fact that the braided American hadn't spoken once of his injuries bothered him. They were no longer in a war. Through trials of his own, Wufei had found that he was a man beyond the war. With his comrades, he had begun to heal. It bothered him greatly that the one who had tried so very hard to make an alliance, the man who had seemed the most... normal... was the one most struggling. In the war, he had not attempted to see Maxwell as anything other than a nuisance. He had not seen how much the man had been hurting... how much he had been hiding.

He had to defeat his enemy and help Maxwell. They had to get this damn mission over with so that... issues... could be resolved.

He landed another hit on his enemy and hoped his other comrades were faring better than the one beside him.

* * *

Fuck.

Quatre was shocked that he even thought the word, but it was harder to change his fighting style than he had thought. And he hadn't been fighting for a year... he was out of practice. Trowa, too, seemed a bit... frustrated.

Granted, they were winning. He just knew that the reason they were winning was not specifically because of him. After all, whenever he got close enough to do damage to his opponent, he would see a flash of a smile, a glint in the eyes – and he would see, for just that instant, the true Duo. Trowa had ended up taking a clip on the arm to drag him away when it first occurred.

It was difficult, though, for him to attack someone who acted so... similar to Duo. When Duo fought, he sometimes seemed possessed. Duo never spoke of it, but Quatre feared he lost himself in battle and truly became Shinigami. Here, this man showed the same style of fighting, minus the sanity that Duo owned. This man was probably the same off the battlefield, as well. Duo's clone was... psychotic.

The thought that this man could be anything like Duo angered him. He knew well what Duo was like, though he hadn't seen his friend for a long time before all this happened. Duo was not insane, nor was he someone who enjoyed fighting. He remembered that time after Heero had... he remembered the time in the safehouse, Duo drunk most nights and going on possible suicide missions on the others. One man pulling off an infiltration that looked like at least ten men were involved? He'd been so worried about Duo. Whenever he was sober – even when he was drunk – he looked so in-control, so... normal. So okay. But Quatre's heart had told him differently. Duo had been killing himself.

This man was not Duo.

With renewed focus, Quatre shot at the clone. Surprised, he couldn't quite dodge in time. The bullet clipped the man's shoulder.

Trowa, in an instant, was behind him – not above, where he would have probably gone to give his enemy one last bullet – and was grabbing his arms, pulling them behind him. Quatre shot another bullet, this one aimed next to the man's heart. A death wound that wound take a while to hear. Doubtless, the man had last words. Quatre would let him say them.

Trowa knew what Quatre was doing and stiffened. Quatre could sense his wariness, his displeasure at being the one to hear this man's last words. The clone made it worth their while.

"You think I'm different, don't you?" There were gasps and struggles to say what he wanted. Trowa laid him down. Quatre vaguely realized that the grunts weren't there. Many had been killed, but not all. Some must have either run away or run back in. They had to hurry. "Well? You think that, since I'm a clone, I deserve death."

"No," Quatre heard himself responding. "I am not a true person, either. I'm a lab baby. I killed you because I needed to protect something precious."

The clone stared for a while, then laughed weakly. "Something precious? I wonder what that is..."

Quatre felt empathy then. He was so much like Duo now, even more than before. Here was the humanity that was taken away from him.

"Your precious something... will be killed. Most likely... by your own hands." The clone smiled, but the smile was lost behind the blood that ran and ran and ran down his face. "Either you or your clone... but you can protect nothing. Duo couldn't protect anything." Shock rendered Quatre immobile. "You are shocked that we have our originals' memories? Why? The doctors... were very... exact in their experiments. How do you think we know how to fight you? We _are_ you."

"Shut up." Trowa said quietly. "You are not us. We chose peace."

"What peace?" the clone asked, then shut his eyes. "I see no peace." And died.

* * *

There was a stagger in both of his enemies that gave Heero the opening he was looking for. His gun snapped up and fired three bullets – one hit his clone's uninjured leg, the other two hit the other clone's legs. Neither of them cried out, but both fell to the ground.

They quickly picked themselves up, but the reprieve was long enough for him to change his magazine. They would also be slower.

Maybe he could win this in time to help Duo. God, please let him be okay.

* * *

Yeah right he was gonna be able to do this.

He had fallen before his enemy and had thought he would be dead in the next second, but his enemy had staggered a bit and gasped. He grabbed his heart slightly – the Universe Heart. Something had happened. To the real Quatre? Duo's heart skittered painfully in his chest.

He raised himself back up and charged his enemy – an attack he would never do, an attack that went against all his instincts from back when he was a street rat.

He hit his target.

They both fell backwards with him on top. He couldn't pin the clone's arms in time and dodged just as a bullet shot to the ceiling.

He managed to stand and only swayed ominously once. Had he mentioned that a bullet had clipped his right leg? It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, too. Damn.

He was sweating up a river, his arm throbbed throbbed throbbed, his bruises were covered in bruises, his leg was shaky underneath him, and his vision was starting to gray. He gave himself another two minutes. Wufei, on the other hand, was slowly but surely beating down his enemy.

He thought back on what he'd told himself before – that it would be nice to die, but not before Diana Paisley was safely retrieved. What if he amended that to couldn't die unless it was to help another save Diana? If he fought as long as he could, he could give Wufei time to defeat his enemy. Just enough time... for as long as he could...

Well, it was what was going to happen, anyway. He might as well go out with honor – it would be expected of a true warrior.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm afriad this may have gone too fast, but oh well. Please review. Your words inspired me to write as much as I could as fast as I could - and made me fight to get this out. Thank you for everything! 


	16. Battle of the Clones

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me. Duh.

Warnings: cursing, violence, shounen-ai.

* * *

Only You

* * *

He had to hurry.

With every second, he saw Maxwell getting weaker and weaker. He seemed to be injured on his right, and he had little mobility with his left arm. He was losing his battle. Badly.

"Hold on, Maxwell!" he shouted. When he received no response, he panicked. Maxwell always had something to say to that remark.

He knew a bit about Trowa, enough to predict a few of his moves. That made it easier to change his own attack and catch the bald replica off-guard. Of course, not every hit met its target. Trowa's reflexes were good, and this guy's were no exception.

When he would have thrust in, he moved around his opponent. Trowa's clone turned quickly, completely balanced despite the sudden twist, and moved in with a dagger. Instead of going to grab, he dodged. His hand snaked out and grabbed the blade, pulling it out of his enemy's grasp. He swung like a dancer inside his opponent's attack and sliced up. His enemy didn't dodge quite in time and suffered a slight nick on his upper arm.

He took a millisecond to check on Duo and saw him fall.

"Duo!" He moved to Duo's side and kicked Quatre's clone away from them. Trowa's came on them, diverting Wufei's attention from Duo. He had to fight the clone back with the knife. A quick upper thrust to the clone's left abdomen. He fell back long enough for Wufei to stand before Maxwell.

"Stupid," Duo whispered, "move." His voice was thready and weak, but his breaths were loud and ragged.

"Stay still," he ordered, and gained a small chuckle.

"Aye-aye, cap'n." And he passed out.

"Shit," was Wufei's last word. Then he was charged.

Wufei's clone quickly figured out that knowing his enemy wasn't going to be enough. So he changed, too.

Suddenly Hero's quick win wasn't so quick. He ducked the clone's sword and back flipped away from his kick. He dodged right, then rolled, coming up behind his enemy. He shot out a kangaroo kick, hitting his turning enemy in his side. He pushed himself up and back-fisted his opponent. He waited for him to get up, wary of the sword.

The clone's lip was bloody when he stood, his legs practically useless. His own clone came in then to protect, but strangely did not attack.

"What do your emotions say now?" his clone asked, shocking both him and the other clone. "Tell me."

"My emotions?" Heero found himself caught completely off-guard.

"Tell me," his clone repeated.

"What are you doing?" Wufei's clone hissed.

Was this a ploy? A trick to lure him into a trap? If it was, it was completely unrehearsed. If it had been planned, the other clone would know of it.

Keeping his guard up, he answered. "That I have to beat you." At the enemy's hardened look, he continued a bit quicker. "I must get to Duo."

Now Wufei's clone piped up. "It is true, then, the emotions I felt from you."

Heero stiffened his spine. "What do you mean?"

The swordsman stood. "I could feel your caring for the braided fool. When you heard his name, when you stood up for him... a weak liability... I knew."

"He's not weak, and he's not a liability." Despite what he'd said during the war... he hadn't been able to lie to himself. But now his enemies knew... what would they do to Duo? i He can take care of himself. /i The thought didn't comfort when he remembered Duo lying motionless on the ground.

"Why do you fight?" his clone asked.

"To protect," he answered immediately. "To protect my friends and this peace." It had taken him a long time to say the word "friends", longer still to truly understand what it meant. He was proud of his friendships now, because...

"You said emotions were all you had," his clone said. Heero thought it sounded accusing.

"They were," he replied. "And they gave me more. They gave me reasons to fight. More than just fulfilling a mission."

There was a look on his clone's face. It looked like... hope. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want something else?"

"Why don't you?" he countered. "My life was empty. Meaningless. I threw it around like it didn't matter. But I found one reason... above all... to stay alive." i Someone I had to protect. Someone I had to keep safe. That's why I couldn't die... I had to stay alive to make sure Duo would survive. /i

Wufei's clone stared at the two of them. "Do you wish to know?" he asked his comrade. "Do you wish to let him live? Live a life that you, his clone, could never have?"

He could only watch as his clone fought with himself. He was struck amazed by the sudden development. Duo had said that their... humanities... were sucked from them. He had wondered at the time if that were even possible.

Maybe... maybe it wasn't.

"Oh-two has already been taken out," his clone said. Heero's heart lost a couple beats before he realized that his clone was speaking about Duo's clone, not Duo himself. His chest burned in an adrenaline overload, his heart beating double-time. He couldn't discard the fact that he was in extreme danger of losing Duo. More than ever, he needed to see him. Needed to protect.

"I understand that," Wufei's clone snapped. "He was the weakest of us."

"He was... the one that spawned my emotions." And then, before everyone – and him oblivious to it – a tear slid down his cheek.

i Jesus. /i Heero was left speechless.

Oh-Five, of course, had plenty to say, mostly sentence-less and certainly inventive. Then, without warning, he shot Oh-One in the head.

Heero watched horror-struck as his clone fell to the ground. The blood quickly spread to his feet. "Why...?"

"It was dishonorable, but it had to be done. He was having ideas that he should not."

"He was i becoming /i honorable," Heero argued. He found himself unable to think coherently, and so was unprepared when Oh-Five touched Heero's throat with his blade. He cursed himself for a fool.

"Betraying your comrades is honorable?" Oh-Five demanded.

"When your comrades are wrong," Heero said and got to watch the clone's face contort slightly in rage.

"I'll kill you, as well." It was a promise. Heero got the hell away from the blade.

And raised his gun when the sword followed him.

Wufei was prepared when the two clones stumbled for a moment and didn't hesitate to fire. His bullet met Baldy's right shoulder, his next hit Quatre's clone in the chest. Baldy shouted and clutched his chest.

"No!" He ran to his partner's side and kneeled beside him. Quatre's clone was unresponsive, even when Baldy shook him over and over again, calling to him.

"Shit," Duo murmured, "I think we just killed his lover."

Wufei studied Baldy's face and had to agree. The best thing to do would be to kill him before he turned on them. The idea that they could be lovers stopped him, however. Lovers? They were ruthless, lacking emotion due to the scientists' attempts to create the perfect soldiers.

"Shit." Duo raised his arm to do what Wufei couldn't. Wufei could hear his hand shake. "Shit," he repeated, a bit firmer, and then he fired.

Getting through the mountains of bodyguards was starting to piss Quatre off. Especially when he Felt the pain and anguish coming from his friends.

"Something's wrong," he told Trowa. "Everyone's hurting... I don't think it's physical..." That wasn't quite true. Duo was in agony, so much pain that there had to be something dreadfully wrong. "Except for Duo..." Which, really, was to be expected. With the amount of wounds that Duo had had before they'd even gone into the building...

"You think it has to do with the clones."

He and Trowa had become closer and closer until they were close enough to finish each other's sentences. It was like they were of one heart. "Yes. It has to be."

"Then we have to hurry." Trowa shot down another enemy, careful to not kill. Quatre took down two more while Trowa reloaded his magazine. "They'll be higher up."

"I know. And we have to check on Heero, as well."

"We'll have to split up," Trowa told him, voice calm. Trowa never showed his emotions, even when they weren't being shot at. Quatre envied him that.

"I know." Quatre fired again, clipping a man on the side of his head. He would have a splitting headache when he woke up.

"I'll go after Heero," Trowa said softly. "You take care of Duo."

"I'll do what I can." Telling Trowa just how bad off he thought Duo was.

"Take care." The closest Trowa would come to saying what he wanted to in a situation such as this.

"I love you," Quatre said fiercely. He saw Trowa smile before running off. Quatre covered him before taking off in the other direction.

"It had to be done," Oh-Five continued. "And now that Oh-Four is dead..."

Heero felt his heart thump in relief – another down. Now there were only two that could threaten Duo, and one was here. And with Wufei accompanying him...

"How do you know...?" Heero asked, punching at Oh-Five's groin. Oh-Five hopped backwards – Heero followed him with an elbow. Oh-Five evaded that, as well. Heero shot at him with his left hand. When Oh-Five dodged, his leg momentarily gave way. Heero shot again, hitting him in the shoulder. Oh-Five fell with a hiss.

"We Feel each other, thanks to the scientists giving us each a piece of Quatre's Universe Heart. We Feel when we die or get hurt. Oh-Three is about to go Berserk."

Well that didn't sound good. Heero shot Wufei's gun out of his reach. "Berserk?"

"Your love is about to find out." Oh-Five grinned. "It was an honor to battle you, Heero Yuy." He dipped his head in a bow.

Heero swallowed hard. Oh-Five looked far too much like Wufei there, despite his hair color. Heero had to think of Oh-One and Duo at the same time to be able to pull the trigger.

"Shit," Duo muttered again. His shot missed, instead slamming the bullet into the wall. He tried to replace his magazine with trembling hands.

"Do not bother." Baldy stood again, slowly, with his head and arms dangling. Like he was a puppet. When his head raised, his eyes glittered with madness. There was a sharp intake of breath from Duo.

Wufei raised his gun without hesitation this time. These eyes were mad beyond mere grief. This was a madness that was taking root in his very soul.

"Fuck," Duo whispered, an upgrade from before. "We're toast."

Not if he could help it. Wufei made the first move, going straight towards Baldy and dodging to the right. Baldy spun like a tornado, picked him up and threw him. He hit the far wall with a cry.

"Wufei!"

He hit the ground with a hard thud. He heard movement, a choked sound. He struggled up and saw Duo in Baldy's arms. Baldy was trying to throw him, as well, but Duo was holding on like a piranha. He was attempting to pull up his gun, but was having little success. Finally Baldy gave up on throwing him and wrapped his hands around Duo's neck.

They were on the fourth floor when Quatre suddenly stopped and clutched his chest. "No..." His eyes were wide.

He could feel Duo's strength ebbing like the tide... after a tsunami. He was dying. Quatre could feel a trace of fingers on his neck and a fierce desire to not let his friends get hurt. And that desire was almost gone, despite its fierceness.

He stumbled as he moved forward, almost forgot the two men tailing him. He took shelter behind a nook leading to a locked office. Duo was leaving them! Oh, Allah. Duo was leaving all of them. And dimly, dimly he could feel a wish being granted.

"Oh, Duo, no. Don't go yet. Don't give up." Quatre fisted his shirt in his hand, right above his heart, and willed his hope and fear into Duo. If only he were there... he knew well that Duo couldn't leave if he and the others asked him to stay. He had Felt Duo's desire for them all to be friends long before they had become like blood brothers. He knew very well what Duo would be willing to do for his friends. Couldn't he Feel it now, as Duo died? Oh, Allah.

He had also Felt, while in Duo's house, something even deeper. The Feel of despair – the Feel that he had lost, and no amount of trying would give him victory. He had given up on their friendship.

Now he was giving up on life.

"No, Duo," he pleaded. "Don't give up yet." A bullet ripped at the wall beside him. With grim determination, Quatre calculated the angle and waited to confirm with the second bullet. He hoped that Trowa had found Heero and was heading further up. He feared they may be too late, no matter what.

He prayed such wasn't the case.

"Duo!" Wufei cried out, trying to stand. He felt pain shooting through his right arm and feared it would be out of commission for a while. His entire body groaned as he stood and swayed. His eyesight blurred for a moment, making Duo's body merge with Baldy's. Duo's jerky movements took on a meaning then, a meaning even Wufei's blurred eyes could read – he was running out of oxygen. Wufei stumbled closer. His eyesight cleared at the same time he finally saw that last piece that he already knew would haunt him forever.

He wasn't going to make it.

Heero felt something strange happen in his chest. His adrenaline jump-started again, and his heart burned. He looked around, trying to find what he'd felt. An enemy attack? He sensed no one. The only enemy left now was Oh-Three. There was no one else this far up due to Quatre's and Trowa's help...

Heero's heart went to his throat. He'd felt this before. When Duo...

"No." His voice was feather-soft, his fear contaminating every pore of his skin, every marrow of every bone. Duo was in danger. He knew it. He could feel it. It was as if a part of his soul was being ripped from him. The thought of Duo dying...

He saw Duo's body lying on the ground again, unmoving and bloody. Oh, God. Duo. He had to get to Duo i now /i .

Where was Wufei? He couldn't imagine Wufei letting a comrade get injured. The man was too noble. What did that mean about Wufei? They hadn't had the luxury of having an enemy kill the other. What was happening to them?

He found that he'd stopped moving in his fear. Now he sprinted across the hallway, not caring that his footsteps were echoing loud and clear. Despite how hard he tried to not listen to the thoughts in his mind, he couldn't help but hear, over and over...

i He's dead and you weren't able to save him. /i

i He's dead because of you. /i

He should have sent Duo back to his house as soon as he'd seen the man on the cabin doorstep. He should have tied Duo to the hospital bed. He should have... he should have...

He had to get to Duo.

He heard footsteps behind him and swiveled around without thought, his gun up and aimed at the approaching enemy's heart.

"Heero! It's Trowa!"

His heart tripped for a moment. His finger was already pressing the trigger. He wrenched his hand as fast as he could, trying to keep the bullet from ripping into his friend's chest.

There was hardly anything left of Duo. Only a small murmur, more like a memory. Quatre had taken out his enemies and had made it to the fifth floor. But still, he wasn't... he wasn't going to make it.

"No! Dammit!" Tears spilled down his cheeks and fell to the floor. "Dammit!" He ran as fast as he could – and stumbled at the Feel of shock coming from his lover. "Trowa?" he breathed.

Trowa just stared at him, a bit wide-eyed. "Heero-"

"I missed you," Heero said curtly. "Now we need to move."

"Heero," Trowa came up beside him, still looking a bit shocked. "What-"

"Duo," he snapped. "We have to get to Duo. Now."

Trowa's shock was replaced immediately. He took Heero's back and they ran down the hallway as fast as they could.

Duo's body slackened a bit more. His hand, once holding on to Baldy's arm like a talon, slipped down to swing limply by his side. His mouth, pulled back in a snarl, slipped closed with his eyes. His other hand, holding his gun, stayed up long enough to press the trigger twice. The bullets slammed into Baldy's leg, but Baldy didn't even sway.

"Duo!" Helpless, Wufei struggled forward again, willing adrenaline to course through him. Duo's hand fell. The gun's crash to the ground was deafening, as was the ricochet shot that snapped into the wall. Duo was still as a stone.

"No!" Wufei pressed forward, cursed his weak limbs and the grating sound of broken ribs. He thought of what Duo's condition must have been before he'd even come into this building and cursed his weakness. This couldn't be worse than what Maxwell had suffered, yet he'd managed to crawl through the grate and fight Quatre's clone. All to help their mission and a woman he'd hardly known.

And now he, with the same injuries, could not even save his friend!

He let out a primal scream and ran forward. Baldy's attention went to him. His free hand was raised to deal with Wufei's threat. But Wufei had something else planned.

He'd seen Maxwell reload. He knew there were shots left in that gun.

He shifted his momentum at the last moment and dove for the gun. Baldy saw what his movements meant and swirled, Duo still in hand, to fight. Wufei had expected Baldy to use Duo as a shield and wasn't disappointed. He rolled up to the wall, gun in hand, and kicked himself away from the wall. Baldy spun to follow the movement, but Wufei had taken him by surprise. He pulled the trigger.

* * *

**A/N: **There you go. Sorry about the wait. But **IMPORTANT NEWS** -- the reason I was late was because of **MY SITE**. My site is now receiving faster updates, and so has the chapter after this already posted. ;; I'm putting much more up there than I am here, especially since it seems people are really starting to look at it.

Thank you, everyone! Please R&R!!!**  
**


	17. The Last Battle

Disclaimer - Gundam Wing is not mine. Duh.

And did I mention that I'm really sorry for the wait?

* * *

Baldy jerked once, twice, his hand still firmly clasping Duo's neck. Wufei landed with a hard thud onto the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He ignored his need for breath and shot again, then once more. Still Baldy held onto Duo, though it was becoming apparent that it was because his hand was trapped in that grip. Baldy was already dead.

Wufei struggled up to get Duo out of the dead man's grip and stumbled. He tasted blood in his mouth, spat it out. His legs protested sharply to his movement. His ribs grated until he wanted to scream. The pain had doubled at his poor landing, and the adrenaline was fading.

But he couldn't be too late now!

With the last of his strength, he pulled himself from the ground. He wavered drunkenly; his eyes watered slightly. Duo became a fuzzy wall hanging in his vision.

"Duo," he whispered, and pulled himself forward.

"Wufei!"

If Wufei ever cried, he might have then, in relief. "Yuy!" he shouted back. "Help Maxwell!" He gave up the reins to his partner completely and let himself fall back to the ground.

There was a curse and footsteps that weren't trying for stealth. There was a gasp soon after, a whispered plea. Wufei saw Heero break the dead man's wrist and pull Duo into his arms. Trowa blocked his vision then and carefully assessed his injuries. Wufei stubbornly fought him. "Maxwell?" he asked.

Trowa managed a tiny chuckle. "Heero has him. He's breathing."

Wufei nodded slightly, satisfied. "You, Yuy and Winner go on ahead."

Trowa immediately protested with a finger in his ribs. Wufei winced. "Quatre will stay here with you. Heero and I will go."

Wufei only nodded and slipped into unconsciousness.

Heero only partly listened to his partner, but was still concerned when Wufei didn't continue arguing with the Heavyarms pilot. Still, his attention was solely on the man in his arms, the man taking ragged breaths but not saying a word.

"Duo?" he called softly, trying to get the braided idiot to speak. His heart jackhammered at the lack of response. "Duo! Answer me, dammit!"

There was still no sound. Heero saw the bruises on Duo's neck deepen right before his eyes. He couldn't see all the broken bones and bruises and cuts on Duo's body. He could feel Duo's ribs moving almost like liquid underneath his fingers. The arm that had already been shot seemed to have a fracture, his other a fracture or two. His head was caked with blood that seeped out of his old wound. He looked... dead.

Desperately Heero felt for Duo's pulse, took solace in the sound of that weak beat struggling to make its way through Duo's system. Duo's breath was weak, as well.

"Duo, don't die on me. Don't die."

No response.

Footsteps came up from behind Heero, but he knew who they were. Trowa wouldn't have allowed any visitor other than Quatre. Quatre's gasp was soft, but full of meaning. He had expected Duo to be dead.

"What do you feel?" Heero asked dully.

Quatre took a moment, as if fully concentrating. "Hardly anything," he admitted. "He needs to get to a hospital. Quickly."

"We can't leave." Heero's voice was full of anguish. "Even if Jocker weren't such a threat... even if Diane Paisley wasn't in danger... if we leave, Jocker will only come after us. We have to finish this now."

Still, the thought of leaving Duo even for an instant, leaving him without medical aid but for the little each pilot had been taught...

He leaned in to Duo's ear, praying desperately that what he was about to do wouldn't lead to Duo's death. He couldn't let himself think like that, or else... "Please, love, hold on. Please. I swear I'll tell you everything, if only you live. I swear... so please..." Unable to continue, he stood and turned to Trowa. "Let's go." He turned to Quatre, but he was already sealing off the entrances to the floor. Quatre didn't plan on going anywhere.

For one instant, Heero saw Quatre and Trowa lock gazes. Their eyes seemed to be saying something. Heero looked away, unable to watch. His thoughts fell on Duo.

The sooner they killed Jocker and rescued Diane, the sooner Duo could get medical attention.

Whatever he had to do, he swore. He would do it. To protect he who gave him more. He who was everything.

It was disgustingly easy to get to the top floor, despite the guards posted along the way. They obviously hadn't expected anyone to get through the clones. And yet... the guard was still weak.

Heero was just starting to seriously consider a trap when he heard screams from beyond a doorway. He recognized Diane's voice.

There was no guard in front, which only confused Heero for one short instant before he heard Diane cry out again, screaming. "No! Please, no! NO!"

Heero gritted his teeth. Apparently a threat to his base of operations wasn't enough to stop him from having his fun. The people here put too much stock in the capabilities of those five clones.

Of course, Heero conceded silently, if all five of the acclaimed gundam pilots hadn't come... there would probably be no need to worry.

With a few quick signals, Heero and Trowa moved into position. Diane's screams got more desperate - "No! Not that – not that!" - and Heero knew time was almost up in that score. He busted down the door.

The scene they entered into was... nasty. Limp, dried-up dicks lay around the floor of the spacious, carpeted room. Diane was trussed up against what looked to be a horse – the type gymnasts launched off of – her legs spread and arms tied behind her. Tears were streaming down her face, but one look to the door brought a glint of hope to her eyes.

Heero thought of Duo downstairs, how desperate he'd been to help this woman. Finally, finally, Heero could see why. Duo had seen that hope.

Jocker was at a huge disadvantage, being totally naked and wielding nothing more than a limp, useless dick. Plus the fact that he'd been taken just a bit by surprise. Heero was in a bad enough mood to actually delight in his look of consternation and fear.

Jocker reacted quickly, though, dodging and rolling madly to evade their bullets. Heero kept two in his clip, seeing that the man knew how to move just wildly enough to not be hit. He heard Trowa do the same.

"You survived the clones," Jocker noted, his voice a deep tenor and full of ego. "Or did you sacrifice your teammates to get this far?"

Heero thought of Duo again and began to snarl, but Trowa cut him off with a dry chuckle. "Not quite. Maybe we're just better than you?"

It was Jocker who snarled now, not Heero. "Doubtful."

"Wrong again," Heero managed. The talking was taking too long.

"Ah, I see." Here Jocker seemed to relax, despite the guns trained on him. The urge to pull the trigger tripled. "You're the originals. Impressive that you killed those supposedly better than you. I wonder what went wrong?"

Trowa shrugged, still holding his gun straight at Jocker's heart. "The scientists, for all their gifts, never understood what made a soldier truly strong."

Jocker smirked. "Oh?"

"You wouldn't understand, either," Trowa calmly informed him.

The man was naked, still hard. Heero could easily see every single nasty little crevice of the bastard's body. Every. Single. Crevice. So when the man pulled out a butterfly knife and whipped out the blade, Heero had no idea where it came from. Trowa, too, was startled, but Trowa added a sharp intake. Heero could only guess that Trowa had seen where he'd pulled the weapon from.

The knife went sailing to Diane's naked breast.

Without thought, Heero turned his weapon on the knife and shot, his heart hammering. He'd still been surprised – his shots may miss.

It took both of his bullets and one of Trowa's, but the knife was deflected away from Diane.

Heero turned back to Jocker to find him a mere foot away.

Out of bullets, he could only roll into the room, dodging the attack. Trowa moved away, as well. Heero pulled his last magazine out as Trowa jumped forward to engage Jocker with his fists and last bullet. Heero managed to get his mag in. He shot a bullet to get Jocker's attention. Trowa jumped back. Jocker looked pissed at being thwarted like this and went after Trowa as he took out his mag.

Heero raced forward, shooting another bullet. Jocker dodged this one, as well, but ignored Heero for Trowa.

Big mistake.

Heero pushed his foot off the ground and flipped over Jocker's head, landing on his opposite side. Jocker turned too slow, and Heero's punch sent him next to Diane. Heero let loose another bullet and heard Trowa's magazine snap into place.

* * *

Quatre couldn't do enough to keep Duo with him. His breathing steadily declined, by tiny degrees, yes, but declining nonetheless. Desperate, he smacked Duo. Hard.

Duo's eyes only barely fluttered open before starting to close again. "No! Duo, don't you dare leave me again! Stay awake!"

With a monumental amount of effort that Quatre honestly couldn't believe possible, Duo kept his eyes trained on him. Quatre kept talking, praying Duo's indomitable strength would last him just a while longer.

"Stay with me, dammit." Quatre felt tears in his eyes as he realized that Duo was about to fall unconscious with his eyes open. "Don't leave me! Don't you dare run off on me again! Do you hear me?!"

Duo's eyes blinked. Quatre thought Duo could see his tears. If that kept Duo with him, he would cry the earth a new ocean. "Stay, Duo, please stay. Please hold on. Just a bit longer. Hold on just a bit longer, Duo! Stay – for me. For Diane Paisley."

He thought he saw Duo's eyes sharpen just the tiniest bit.

"That's right. We need you aware. You need to stay awake. You know the others-" he was careful not to say Heero's name "-can't soothe her. They'll only make things worse. You need to stay."

Duo's lips moved slightly. 'You.'

Quatre shook his head. "No. If you die, I..." He thought quickly, hoping Duo was too incoherent to see the lie he knew would be printed all over his face. "I'll be in too much pain because of my Universe Heart. I won't be able to help her."

Duo's eyes were desperate suddenly. 'Heero.'

And Quatre knew what he had to do. "Oh, Duo... he's..." And Quatre let his eyes brim with tears again. When he Felt Duo begin pulling away from him in grief, he quickly said, "he's so hurt... I don't know if he'll be able to survive the fight..."

Duo's eyes widened, suddenly a lot clearer. Quatre's tears were real, then, and even more bitter. He knew Duo would fight to stay awake – would fight to get up those steps. And if it meant Duo's living, Quatre would help him.

Quatre went over to wake Wufei. His plan would need some help... and it would be good for Duo to see how hurt Wufei was... because Duo's kind heart would make him try to help.

* * *

Jocker, the rat bastard, had managed to pick up his butterfly knife with his left hand. Heero's shot had been dodged enough for his right shoulder to be hit and not his heart. Heero didn't think the arm was out of commission, which meant he still had to be on full alert.

He had to waste a bullet keeping Jocker away from Diane when he tried to run to her. Heero quickly ran over to stand before her. Trowa used a couple bullets keeping Jocker's attention away from Heero until it was too late.

"You can't beat me," Jocker snarled. "You want me alive, and I won't let you take me."

"You got us all wrong," Heero growled, and took the man by surprise. "I want you dead." _For Duo... for Diane. For peace... for me._ Heero ran at the man then. Trowa quickly shot at Jocker, carefully keeping him from escaping Heero's attack. Heero's gun's muzzle smacked into Jocker's throat as Jocker's knife plunged into his stomach. Heero's fingers never hesitated – he emptied his magazine into the man's throat.

"Heero!" Diane cried, seeing the knife protruding from Heero's stomach, but Heero was unconcerned. He knew he'd altered his stance enough to avoid any organs.

Trowa came up to him quickly, ripping his shirt. Heero allowed him to bandage him up before untying Diane. Her hands fluttered over him, seemingly unaware of how immodest she was. Heero and Trowa probably helped with that, though, since they never once looked at her naked form with any sort of lust in their eyes. Heero tossed her a blanket, at which point she blushed and quickly covered herself. Trowa, meanwhile, was calling an ambulance and police, informing the operator that there may still be a few men that needed to be dealt with.

Trowa's sudden silence made Heero listen in. "Lady Une?" A pause, then a dry chuckle. "Ah – Commander Une." Another pause, longer this time. "Thank you." Pause. "Three injured. Two down." Heero could Une barking orders and asking questions at the same time. "The suspect is dead, the witness alive with minor injuries."

Indeed, Heero noted with relief, they'd managed to get to Diane before Jocker could do anything worse than give her bruises on her breasts. Heero knew that was nothing compared to what he'd had planned for her – the least serious of which would have been death.

Diane, too, seemed extremely pleased about this.

"Mr. Yuy," Diane said softly, gaining his attention again. "Where... are Mr. Chang and... Mr. Maxwell?"

Heero's heart skipped over itself. "They... they've both been injured," Heero said finally.

"Please," Diane said, tears forming in her eyes, "please tell me neither is dead. Duo... Mr. Maxwell... I saw him fall before I was taken. Is he...?"

Heero clenched his eyes shut, not knowing what to say. He couldn't say Duo wasn't dead... because... he might be wrong.

"Come on," Trowa said, suddenly beside him. "Let's go see them."

Diane, hopeful, followed behind them as they trailed down the steps. Heero ignored the faint feeling he had due to the loss of blood, ignored the pain in his abdomen and the weird feeling of the knife in his stomach. When they got to the bottom of the steps, though, Heero lagged enough to get the knife out. Then he ran ahead of everyone.

What he saw staggered him. Duo was leaning heavily on Quatre's shoulder, breathing heavily and swaying dangerously. Quatre had tears running heavy on his cheeks, but he was helping Duo stand.

"Duo," Heero snapped, "what the hell are you doing?"

Duo's eyes snapped up, seemingly desperate. The gaze fell to his stomach and widened. Then those violet eyes came back up to meet his and Heero's anger fled as he saw how... dilated, how... dead... those eyes were.

His gaze snapped to Quatre, who quickly mouthed an explanation. 'He was dying... this was the only way to get adrenaline in him. If I hadn't...'

Heero's heart twisted.

Duo seemed to finally realize that the wound wasn't terrible and collapsed in Quatre's arms. Quatre stumbled, but Trowa was there to catch him and place him down. Heero's eyes left Duo just long enough to see Wufei's black eyes glitter as he watched them, still lying inert on the floor. There was a message for him in those eyes that he couldn't bear to read right then.

Heero heard police sirens in the distance, followed by the wail of an ambulance. Only a little bit longer...

Quatre's choked cry, though, told Heero that even so little time might be too much.

Heero ran up to Duo's side, not able to see what might happen, not able to bear the thought of finding his love dead.

Somehow, seeing that he was still alive was so much worse. Duo's breathing wasn't ragged anymore. He wasn't breathing enough to make any such sounds at all. His chest didn't even move.

"Duo," he breathed, wishing he could take back his angry shout. The thought of Duo leaving now... now, when they were so close to the end... he couldn't hear the sirens anymore, couldn't hear anything. Duo was absolutely silent. He would give his soul now to hear Duo laugh.

He grabbed Duo's blood-soaked shirt in his hands and bent his head to Duo's chest. "Duo – Duo, don't leave me. Duo. Duo!"

He heard movement on the stairs, heard someone moving behind him... heard Duo's heart stop beating.

* * *

A/N: uh, yeah. I kinda forgot about this place. I'm REALLY SORRY! I just haven't really been on the ball. My bad?

Review, people! Even if you're pissed and just went to yell at me for forgetting about Cuz... if you don't... I'll probably forget about this place again... Sorry?


	18. Interlude: What Is Peace?

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine. Duh.

* * *

Only You

Interlude

* * *

It was hell to step back, to let the doctors and professionals swarm around Duo. Trowa must have told them how dire the situation was, because they had all they needed – Heero watched dully as they shocked Duo, then again. They were shouting, just as his heart was screaming. Duo, he silently pleaded. Don't let it be too late.

They finally loaded Duo up, having brought back his heartbeat. Heero's fears weren't abated, however, as he heard them screaming out his injuries as they moved him to the elevator, which Quatre had fixed (after having messed with it himself). Broken ribs, broken leg, broken arm. Sever misuse of his already injured arm, acute hemorrhaging from his head wound... pulled tendons, discolorations on what the doctors approximated was about eighty percent of his body, lacerations on thirty-five percent. His hearing hazed after he heard about the ruptured kidney. He felt sick.

Wufei was also carted off – five broken ribs, discoloration, lacerations... not nearly as serious, but still... bad. Duo went down one elevator, Wufei the other. There were voices around him, people talking. Some asking questions about the situation, others talking about what they'd seen. Others inspecting the two bodies lying inert on the ground. All of the noise wracked him. Could no one else see how empty the room was? There were no stupid jokes. No laughter. No... Duo.

He heard Trowa speaking, heard that voice come through past all the others, then found himself being led by the medics. Heard the word shock. It didn't matter. His eyes still stared at where Duo's makeshift stretcher had disappeared after the elevator doors had closed. Waited an eternity for his turn to come up, for the time when either Wufei's or Duo's elevator would come back up to get him.

He heard another familiar voice – Commander Une – but even that couldn't truly reach him. There were no words to be heard then.

Duo. Duo. He despaired over what would end up happening to his love... the man he'd never admitted his feelings for. He thought of his silent promise and lowered his head in shame.

A week. A week and still he did not wake.

Heero visited every day, as soon as Duo was allowed visitors. Four days ago.

Those three days that Heero couldn't see Duo were a haze in his mind. He had gone to the hospital with Wufei. Duo had gone immediately in a separate ambulance. There was a third one there that stayed to treat Trowa and Quatre, who had minimal injuries. They both had apologized for it later – as if they should have been more injured, considering Duo and Wufei's states.

Heero managed a tiny smile at the thought of Wufei. His partner was sick and tired of the hospital, but Sally Po, the Preventors' head medic, had ordered Wufei to remain in the hospital for another couple of days. Wufei had been grousing about it when Heero had visited.

But he had stopped immediately to ask about Duo.

Heero... had been a wreck once he'd been released from the hospital. Still unable to look, let alone speak, to Commander Une, he had allowed Trowa and Quatre to drive him to his house – which served to make him think about Duo's house. A thought he had needed to chase out of his mind immediately, but a thought he could not fully get rid of.

He had allowed Quatre to tuck him into his bed and take care of the bills that had accrued, even knowing that the man would pay for those bills himself.

When he'd awakened, he'd been feverish to see Duo. When he'd been told that Duo wasn't allowed visitors... was still in critical condition...

He'd broken down again. Quatre tenderly took care of him, the resident mother-hen of their little group. He had managed to apologize to Quatre for all the trouble he was causing the next morning, only to be gently told to shut up.

The second day... Heero remembered going into work, dazed and fearful and hardly aware. Une had called him up to her office, taken one look at him, and had ordered him back to his house. When he'd only sat there in front of her, she'd sighed and given him paperwork. He'd finished it all in record time.

The third day had been a bit better. He'd learned that Wufei was fine and had managed to enter the hospital to visit him. Wufei must have met with Trowa and Quatre earlier, because he hadn't mentioned Duo at all, but had instead snapped at Heero about not taking care of himself.

They'd had a fight, one that close friends sometimes had, one that only strengthened their friendship. Wufei was the one who had informed Heero about Une's reaction to their insubordination. Instead of being pissed, she'd been... impressed. Especially when she'd found Jenson's brother on her payroll. And had promptly sent his ass into prison. The trial would be in a couple of months. Until then, they wouldn't have to worry about him. A burden that Heero hadn't worried about at the time, but one it was nice to not have to deal with anyway.

Une had also sent out invitations to Quatre, Trowa, and Duo saying that they were more than welcome in her department. Trowa and Quatre had already declined, but Duo obviously...

Wufei had managed to say that it would help Duo with his financial troubles before Heero had blanked out again.

Since then... he'd continued going to work. He'd visited Duo as soon as he'd found out that Duo was able to have visitors... he'd left in the middle of work. He doubted Une minded, since he'd done even more work than he usually did, which was normally twice what most did to begin with.

Duo... had been a wreck. His braid had been done poorly, meaning someone had untied it. To clean it? He was pale and limp. Though Duo was always shades lighter than he should be, he was never this white... this lifeless. Duo was always moving. Always. He had bags under his eyes, despite having slept for four days.

But worse, worse than all of that... were the tubes. Everywhere. And casts. And bandages. He looked... dead. Like he was already dead, but the machines were keeping him alive anyway.

There was one in his nose, three in his arms, one on his left hand. A cast around his arm and leg, bandages tight around his waist. His bangs were constantly stuck on the butterfly bandage on his head. He'd been told once how many stitches Duo had needed, but he couldn't think of the number now. Didn't dare try to dredge it up.

Thinking about it, looking at Duo like that... he couldn't get the picture of Duo lying lifeless on that floor out of his head... couldn't stop hearing that heart stop. It haunted him. He had nightmares. His training kept the nightmares from interrupting his ability to sleep, but his sleep wasn't restful in the slightest. He kept thinking about Duo...

...About how he had failed to protect him.

And he couldn't help thinking... that his promise to himself to tell Duo his feelings... was why Duo wasn't waking up. That Duo... should not be loved by a war machine like him.

If only Duo would wake up... he didn't care about anything else... as long as Duo lived... as long as he lived...

Nothing else mattered.

Being stuck on a bloody hospital bed while his best friend ran himself into the ground was absolutely, positively maddening.

He didn't need Quatre's daily updates to see that Heero was digging himself into a hole. All he needed to see was that empty, lost, hopeless look on his friend's face. And he could do nothing. In this bed or out of it... he could do nothing.

He feared what would happen if Maxwell died. He feared for Heero... and he feared for everyone else.

What Maxwell had never realized... was just what sort of influence he'd been on the rest of them. Shy Quatre had found the strength to become more sociable... had found the strength to turn to Trowa and confess his feelings (which had given Wufei a nosebleed at the time, and which he also could never live down). He had given life to Heero, who had found no reason for such a thing before. He had given Trowa a sense of peace, a sense that there was more to life than fighting and surviving as a means for comrades. Had taught Trowa the value of friends. As for himself... he had found a reason for friends, as well. For comrades. For allies. For a group of people who would stand by him no matter what. And he had found the first bit of peace he'd felt... since his world had crashed around him. The day his fiancée had died.

The problem with all that... had been the fact that none of them had truly realized Duo's worth... until he was gone. When Wufei had found himself alone after the war, he'd hunted up Heero and joined Preventors with him as his partner. He'd met Trowa in his circus when they'd come into town... had been there that very day as Quatre walked up to Trowa and told him he loved the tall ex-mercenary. They had all come together again, had all formed their group. Each had learned from Duo how nice it was to have people you trust at your back, willing to help you... whether you want the help or not.

But... despite how hard they had tried... they'd been unable to find Duo.

Now... now, after all this time, they had finally found him. Only... only now...

Wufei closed his eyes. He was not the type to weep. But... the thought of them being too late...

"It hurts."

Trowa held his lover tight, knowing that Quatre could not escape the pain he felt right now. The only thing he could do was to stand by him and try to help him through. Still... his worry over Duo's health made him have to ask. "Love... how is he?"

"Better... than the first few days. But..." Quatre had tears falling down his face. The sight of those tears always hurt him and brought envy to him, as well. He never found the ability to cry, even now when he felt the urge to. Quatre, ever stronger than him in emotions, was able to show his emotions without hesitation, without question or fear of censure. But seeing Quatre's tears always left Trowa feeling helpless. "Trowa," Quatre spoke again, and his voice was full of anguish. "He doesn't... he doesn't know if he wants to come back. And as long as he's unsure..."

Trowa understood, though imagining Duo in that hospital bed for an unknown period of time... Duo, who was never one to lie down for so long...

"But..." And here Quatre could hardly speak. Trowa hugged Quatre tighter, wishing he could take his lover's pain as his own. Knowing he couldn't. "But... Trowa... if he decides he doesn't want to... if Duo..." Quatre couldn't finish this time, either, but he didn't have to. Trowa more than understood. It made him hold Quatre even tighter than before and rest his head on his love's shoulder. That... he couldn't even think of that possibility.

_Am I... Am I dead?_

_No. No... This isn't Hell. Hell is so much worse... isn't it? Father Maxwell always spoke of a hot, burning place, full of fire and sin._

_But fire sheds light... it's too dark here. It's... too dark..._

_Sometimes, despite this darkness, I see things... lights flashing on and off, a white bed. Mostly I see memories... things I never wanted to see again._

_And sometimes I think I here Heero's voice... speaking to me. Once, I heard Quatre. Other voices... unknown. Unfamiliar. I remember trying to fight them, but I was too weak._

_Too weak... the story of my life._

_Here, in the darkness, I never see anything other than those memories or that light. When I'm not hearing voices, I can only hear myself. Hear my darkest whispers. The ones I never listen to when there are other stimuli to occupy my mind. Other thoughts. Other concerns._

_I hear me whisper that I don't want to live. I hear me whisper that I don't belong. That I'll never belong. That this world does not want someone like me, a pathetic street rat playing himself off as a jokester while maintaining the part of him that cackles – Shinigami. That I will never be accepted by those I love so much. Those who were supposed to be so very similar to me. Those that shun me... that despise my existence. If that's the truth... if they don't care... if it's true that I don't belong..._

_Then what am I still doing here?_

* * *

To all those concerned, deathfics make me cry, and I just plain can't write them. Fear not - happy endings are what I strive for. 


	19. Life or Death

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine, despite my attempt at forgery. (Joke, for those who don't get that.)

Warning: Uhh... probably cursing in there somewhere, though I can't name specific places. Continuation of plotline again (the _horror_...), and... sappiness. Tears and stuff. **Please Note, All Those Concerned: I DO NOT WRITE DEATH FICS.** They're too bloody depressing. Oh! And the next chapter will probably be the last.

Also: There are hints as to Heero's feelings for Duo, you just kind of have to look for them. You know, because they're both idiots?

* * *

Only You

Chapter 20

* * *

_I should get up, shouldn't I? I was doing something important... _

Nothing I do is that important, is it? And whenever I try...

Is it better... if I...?

* * *

It was another week through, and the doctors were getting concerned.

* * *

Duo knew he was in darkness. Knew he was trapped somewhere. A part of him could feel something, something inside him, trying to tell him to go on. To find a way out of the darkness.

But... he was at home here. He understood this place so well. This place with the memories he'd hoped to never see again. This place that told him he was unworthy.

Yes, he knew this place. He'd been seeing more and more of it since the war ended.

So long ago. So very long ago. How long?

He'd been here, in the darkness, for a while, too. He'd heard voices. So many... Quatre. Trowa. Wufei.

But the one that hurt him the most... was Heero's. He heard Heero's voice so much. In his head. Heero wasn't around. Heero couldn't be around.

But Duo still thought he heard him. And his voice got worse and worse. Sadder, sadder. More desperate. But fear started kicking into Duo's system when he heard that beautiful voice start to turn empty.

But would it be better to return? Would Duo make things better, or would he make them worse? Maybe it would be best to stay here.

But Heero... if he could find a way to help Heero, even behind the scenes...

Heero...

* * *

Two weeks.

Two weeks, and still there was no sign of life.

He came in every day, pulled to Duo's side. The nurses knew him by now and gave him a sad look. He had to just turn away.

As always, he took up Duo's hand. It had become such a routine... he didn't dare think about the hand becoming lifelessly cold. "Duo." He no longer noticed the dead tone to his voice. Une had told him to go the hell home a thousand times now. He couldn't. Work gave him something to do.

Wufei would be getting out today. He'd be thrilled. He'd had a dark look on his face for over a week now. The look would get even darker after he saw Heero.

Didn't matter.

His health was automatically taken care of – sleep. Food. All so ingrained that he hardly noticed from one moment to the next just what he was doing. He would find himself in his kitchen one moment, finishing a banana, then the next he'd be at work hearing Une tell him that he looked more useless than a seasick rookie.

"Duo," he said again, because there was really nothing to say. He'd said it all – everything and more. Duo never responded.

A nurse came in and checked Duo's charts and IV. She looked at Heero and gave him a sad smile. He dared not acknowledge it. She left with a businesslike grace.

He closed his eyes. His sleep was restful enough, but only barely. His body fell into the rhythm of recharging without any help from him. Instinct. He had to be fit and ready – just in case.

Of course, his stab wound was healing, so it itched and burned like a motherfucker.

It was a sign he was alive. He detested it.

"Duo, I..." What could he say? He hadn't said those fateful three words yet. He feared what would happen if he did. A part of him hoped it would bring Duo back. Another part feared it would send him spinning into death.

He didn't dare say the words.

"Duo." He didn't notice the desperate tint to his voice. "Come back." He laid his head on Duo's hand. "Please, please, Duo. Come back to me."

He almost yelped when he felt Duo's fingers twitch.

He jumped in his chair. Had Duo moved consciously? He looked at Duo's face. Nothing had changed. It was the exact same.

But it brought hope to Heero's deadened heart. With tears unabashedly swimming in his eyes, he held onto Duo's hand and, for the first time in days, allowed himself to hope.

* * *

With Trowa's help, Heero managed to get Wufei into his wheelchair. He was breaking from his daze enough to see the tense looks both men were giving him. Wufei looked about frustrated enough to spit. Trowa, ever-patient, merely looked concerned for the both of them.

"Duo..." Both paid strict attention to him. Heero thought they looked shocked that he spoke to them without them having asked him a direct question. It made him wonder about what he'd been like before. "He... he moved. It was just a twitch," he added hastily, seeing in their eyes the same groundless hope that had rooted itself in him. "Just a little..."

"Yuy," Wufei snapped in exasperation, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Heero was confused. "I don't-"

"Get back to him, Heero," Trowa said quietly. "I can take things from here."

"I..." But it was what he wanted to do. Right now, he had this feeling, this awful feeling. One that said that if he didn't bring Duo back now... he'd be lost forever.

Without another word and hardly a nod, he raced from the room.

* * *

_Heero called for me. Didn't he? _

Does he feel guilty? His voice... so sad... so hopeless...

I don't want to hear him like that... no matter what...

* * *

He got reprimanded a few times for running in the hall, but protocol be damned. He stopped at the entrance to Duo's room. He didn't know what he expected – a miracle, and Duo struggling up from the bed. Or maybe – and here his heart tripped painfully – that heart monitor slowing.

But no. Everything was the same. For a short moment, Heero felt that familiar weight inside him. He shook it off. He couldn't hide from the world now. He had to do everything he could to bring Duo back.

"_Please, please, Duo, come back to me."_

"Duo," he called, wishing he could get an answer, if only just once. He moved to the bed and instinctively sat in the chair beside it. Again he picked up Duo's hand. "Duo. I need you. I need you to come back to me."

There wasn't another twitch, but this time Heero was undaunted. He would bring Duo back. It wasn't like him to give up. He wouldn't now – not on something this important.

"Duo, please. I can't lose you. I can't. Please." He needed Duo back with him. Even if Duo left... as he'd said he would. Even if he never saw Duo again... as long as he was all right...

"I can't lose you." He wanted to shy away from the pain, as he always had. Wanted to stop the tears, wanted to keep his voice from breaking. But now... it didn't matter. Because Duo may be depending on him.

"Duo, if you leave... I don't know what I'll do." He couldn't bear to say the word 'die'. "I don't know what I'll do without you. Do you hear me? If you die... I'll die, too.

"I... Duo... I love you so much..." And here, finally, he wept.

* * *

_Heero... I hear Heero... _

Oh, God, he's crying. Please Heero, don't cry. I'll do anything, just please don't cry anymore...

* * *

Another twitch. Small, even smaller than the one he'd felt before. But it was the second one. A good sign.

Heero looked up to see Duo's face and gasped. A single tear had fallen down Duo's left cheek.

"Duo..." He carefully reached up and wiped the tear away. "Duo. Please come back to me. To all of us. We're waiting... we're all waiting for you." He smiled, a small, sad, prayerful smile. "Please... help me laugh again."

* * *

_Heero... _

I don't ever... want you to cry...

* * *

Heero sat there for another two hours, until dinner was making its rounds to all of the patients who were awake. Duo's nutrients were sent through a tube. Heero had to turn his head. And still, still, Duo made no more movements. Either Trowa or Wufei, damn their helpful souls, had told a doctor at some point about Duo having moved. Heero had thought, stupidly, that Duo hadn't moved since because of the doctor's interference.

Granted, after seeing the tear streak on Duo's face, the doctor was ecstatic. Apparently it meant there was a good chance Duo would awaken.

Heero didn't want "a good chance." He wanted Duo awake. Now.

When the nurse left, Heero focused solely on Duo again. He didn't know what to do. Duo, over the past weeks, had started to heal. He still had bruises everywhere, but they were more brownish-yellow that anything else. According to the doctors, his broken bones were healing up nicely. He'd had no bullets in his system, but he'd taken a couple serious hits, one on his leg and the other across his temple. Both were healing well. The stitches were about ready to come out. His kidney was successfully healing, but it had been a close call. He wasn't allowed to do much of anything, even if he woke.

Heero swore fervently that he would do everything he could for Duo... _just please let him wake up._

The lacerations all over him had scabbed over. His larynx hadn't sustained major damage from Oh-Three's death hold on his neck. Those bruises were healing, too, but were still large and unsightly. Heero hated seeing them. Hated seeing all of those wounds, of knowing about them. They all pointed to his inability to protect the one thing that had given him reason to live.

"Did you know that, Duo? You're the reason I swore to survive the war. Didn't you know? That last message... it had been for you."

If only... no. He'd already played the 'if only' game. Heero was one to believe that paths not taken might as well have never existed to begin with. There was no use looking at them; they were past and gone. Never to be seen again. There was no reason to stand stupidly on the path you'd chosen, looking back and wondering 'what if'. It solved nothing.

But Duo... "I need you back. What else can I say? I need you back with me, Duo. We all do. We have so much to make up for. To atone for. If you die..." He choked on the word, hating the tears that entered his eyes at it, "God... what would we do without you?"

He touched his forehead to Duo's hand again, then lightly kissed the fragile skin. Pale. So pale. So soft. He'd gotten hurt because Heero had been unable to protect him...

"I failed," he said bitterly. "I failed, and now I'm being punished." He would do anything to make up for what he'd done.

Anything.

_So please, God, Shinigami, whoever... please... __**please**__... bring him back to me._

Visiting hours ended before Duo awoke, and Heero was forced to leave. He promised to be back the next morning – to hell with work. He doubted Une would mind, since she'd been trying to get rid of him for days.

Duo. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't. It was inconceivable.

Duo had to wake up. He had to.

* * *

_Heero? Heero... _

Did he leave? Has he given up? Does he...

Or has he...? He wouldn't... try to...

No... Heero isn't _**allowed**__ to die! He isn't allowed to give up! No... _

Heero can't die!

* * *

Coming out of the darkness was the hardest, most painful experience he could ever remember. It was with a sense of sorrow, of loss, that he escaped and surfaced.

He entered a room he recognized as a hospital. It was light, but dim. Night.

He panicked. Heero wasn't here. Where was Heero? Hadn't he been here? The voices. He'd heard them in his sleep. He couldn't remember much now, only that Heero was in danger. He needed to get to Heero.

He heard beeping – faster and faster – his heartbeat, he realized. His fucking heartbeat. It was fast. Scared. Shit. He needed to calm it down...

Didn't matter. Had to escape. Where was Heero? It wasn't too late. It couldn't be too late.

What day was it? How long had he been out? What had happened to Diane? Where was everyone?!

A nurse bustled in and gasped when she saw him awake. "Mr. Maxwell! You're awake?"

A stupid question. Duo wondered if he'd be able to knock her out with the catheter still in place.

"Oh, thank goodness. We were getting so concerned. Hold on one moment; I'll go get the doctor." She raced out of the room.

What the hell?

Okay, yeah, he was in a lot of fucking pain, but... but what exactly...

Where the fuck was Heero?

* * *

He tossed and turned, but he managed a light sleep nonetheless. When the phone rang, he was up like a shot.

He always kept a phone right next to the bed, war instinct and Preventor protocol practically in his bloodstream. "Hello, Agent Yuy speaking."

But it was Quatre's voice on the other line. "He's awake."

Heero was off his bed in a second. He moved away from the vid screen and grabbed up an outfit and his wallet. Inside was his Preventors badge. His gun was next. "When?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes ago. I Felt him wake up. He's scared, and he's worried about something. Heero-"

"I'm on my way," he assured. "Is Wufei at your place?"

"Yes. We haven't woken him up yet."

"Wait on that, or he'll want to come, too." Heero knew his partner well, and he also knew it wouldn't be good for Wufei to strain himself. But he wouldn't let Duo be alone. Never again. "Quatre?"

"Yes, Heero?"

He went in front of the screen again, fully prepared to leave. "Thank you." He signed off after Quatre's nod.

God. God. Duo was awake. Alive.

"Thank you," he whispered, just to be certain, and raced out the door.

He broke every single driving law in existence, but managed to get to the hospital in record time. He raced up to the door and banged the hell out of it.

A nurse came up to the door, shaking his head and looking supremely irritated. He practically pressed himself against the glass. "No visitors," he said loudly, loud enough to be heard through the doors.

Heero smacked his Preventor's badge in front of the man's nose.

"Let me in," he ordered, practically quivering in frustration. He didn't have a second to waste.

The man's eyes bulged. The door was opened immediately.

"What-"

But Heero had already raced past him.

He took the stairs, too restless to wait for the elevator, and raced to Duo's floor. He ran down the hall as if a fire was on his heels. One nurse, apparently the night-shift nurse for this area, saw him and began to protest. "Sir, there's no-"

"Preventors," he snapped, and rounded the corner. He saw Duo's room lit a bit brighter than the others. Saw the shadows of movement.

He grabbed the doorjam and swerved himself into Duo's room.

Both the doctor and Duo turned to him in shock. Heero ignored the doctor completely after saying the magic word and turned to Duo.

His eyes. His beautiful eyes were open again.

"I'll leave the room for you, sir." The man nodded and left, closing the door. Heero didn't care about the insinuations the doctor's voice hinted at. Duo was awake.

Duo was watching him with trepidation and a little concern.

But Duo was watching him.

He moved to the bed slowly, fearing somehow that this was a dream or illusion and Duo was disappear if he moved any closer. "Duo..." And he felt those tears come back again, and he couldn't possibly care less. "Duo... thank God." He collapsed beside Duo's bed, his hands fisted around the metal frame. He shook in his sobs.

"Heero?!" There was rustling on the bed. Heero looked up to stop Duo from moving. Duo's eyes were wide, a bit afraid. There grew only wider when they saw the tears streaked on Heero's face. "Heero," he stuttered, "what-"

"You're awake." Those words just kept reverberating in his mind – Duo's awake, Duo's awake. Thank God, Duo was finally, finally awake.

"Yeah, but-"

"You've been in a coma," he told Duo. He saw Duo's eyes widen, saw that fear grow. _For how long?_ Heero could practically hear the thought enter Duo's head. Months? Years?

"Just a couple weeks," Heero assured. He almost laughed a bit at that. Those 'just two weeks' were the longest, most horrendous moments in his life. "But you're awake. The doctors... were beginning to think that..." He couldn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. Duo seemed to understand.

"But why..." And here Duo hesitated himself. Apparently he couldn't fathom Heero's tears.

"You're awake. I was so afraid..." Heero managed to stand. He pushed Duo ever gently back onto the bed, then carefully cupped his cheek. "I was so afraid. I thought... I thought I was going to lose you. Again, but worse than before. So much worse." The tears were still falling, but Heero didn't know if they were for joy or sorrow. Relief, maybe. Tears of sheer relief.

Duo didn't seem to understand his words. "You... were..." His brain couldn't wrap around it.

"I was so scared that my promise was what had made me lose you. But... you came back." Heero managed a smile. "You came back after I told you."

"Told me what?" Duo demanded, irritated with the circular sentences.

"After I told you I love you," Heero explained quietly. "After that... you came back to me."

Heero heard a distinct bleep in the heart monitor, then heard Duo's heartbeat begin to race unsteadily.

"Duo?" he asked in concern, "are you all right?"

"What... did you say?"

Heero couldn't identify the tone of Duo's voice. Here was where Heero had to take his chance. Here was where it all came together... or fell apart. "I love you." The words were barely a whisper, but he saw that Duo had heard them. And he saw Duo's eyes fill.

"Enough," Duo murmured, and his voice was tight with emotion... but it seemed anger was the strongest. Heero felt his heart plummet. "Enough... Wufei told you? Maybe Diane – is she-"

"She's fine," Heero managed. He hoped his own voice didn't betray his hurt.

"Then she told you." Duo seemed to decide on something. "She told you I... I love you." Heero felt his heart triphammer, just as Duo's did. Heero's heart did something funny – a thrill of hope, then a downward spiral of sorrow. Duo didn't believe him. "You don't need to lie to me, Heero. The doctor said I'll make a full recovery... eventually. I won't be slipping back... into a coma." Heero caught the hesitation and wondered at it.

"I'm not lying. Duo... I love you." He grabbed Duo's hand, an instinctive maneuver by now. Duo flinched, but didn't pull away.

"Heero... really, I'm not..." Duo's voice got watery and Heero knew he, too, was fighting tears, even though Duo kept his head carefully pointed away.

"Duo," Heero sighed. Somehow, despite this, his heart was at peace. Finally, finally. With work, work and faith and trust and... time... they could work this out. And now they had time.

He touched Duo's cheek and turned those violet orbs to face him. With another sigh, he bent down and touched his lips to Duo's.

The one person who mattered more to him than life.

Duo's lips parted in surprise. Heero, unconcerned, dipped inside.

That taste. That taste was completely Duo's. A bit sweet, pungent. Strong. Heady. Heero felt his mind blank.

"Duo," he murmured. Perfect. This one moment, this one instant, was absolutely perfect.

Minus the whole Duo-being-in-a-hospital thing.

"Heero," Duo managed, "what..."

"I love you. I have... for so long. And you were gone... after I finally had the chance to be with you and not worry about losing you... and here we are, the war over... and still I..." Heero had to stop, had to back away a bit. Thinking about it... even now, with Duo awake... was just too hard. "I'm so sorry, Duo." He looked into Duo's saucer-sized eyes and pleaded for him to understand. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to protect you. You, who means more than anything to me."

Duo's jaw worked, but nothing came out.

"I'm so sorry," he said again, and kissed Duo's palm. "So very sorry."

"I..." Duo cleared his throat. "I don't think I asked for your protection."

Heero laughed in surprise. "You didn't need to, love." Heero's eyes were intent. "It should have just been there. But I..."

"You saved Diane, right?" Duo asked. Heero nodded. "And Wufei – shit, Wufei was injured-"

"He's doing loads better than you," Heero said dryly.

"Yeah, yeah." Duo made a face. "Quatre? Trowa?"

"Everyone's fine... everyone but you."

Duo's eyes got sad and introspective for a small second. "Yeah."

"Duo, what's your point?" Heero finally asked.

"My _point_, Heero, is that you finished the mission _and_ got all of us out. Even me." Another soft flicker. "You had things to worry about."

"You're the most important thing." Heero touched Duo's cheek, then let his hand drift down to Duo's chin. Gently, so gently as to be a feather, he touched Duo's neck. "The most important," he repeated softly.

Duo's brow furrowed. "You aren't Heero."

Heero laughed then, a full sound. Duo had brought back his laugh, just as Heero had asked him to. "Oh?" He smiled. "And who am I, then?"

Duo stared as if enraptured with his face. Now, finally, Heero could begin to see those signs Wufei had spoken of – those proofs that Duo loved him, too. His heart felt light enough to make him float.

"Pod people," Duo muttered. Heero laughed again.

"No, love. It's me." Duo twitched at the word 'love', as if it were some foreign element he'd never witnessed before. Heero sighed again. "I'll leave you to rest, Duo, but we have to talk tomorrow."

Duo frowned, and Heero knew why. "Tomorrow's Tuesday." Heero ran off the date down to the minute. Duo seemed a bit appeased, at least for a while.

Heero finally stood. "I've probably frightened the entire staff, running here like a madman," Heero joked. "I'd better go tell them there's no problem."

Duo made a face. "You came in here like Hell was on your heels."

"I had thought it might be on yours," Heero said quietly. It made Duo pause. "Quatre called and told me you were awake, but a part of me still feared..." Heero ignored the tightness in his chest this time. His face already felt puffy and covered with salt. "Thank God you're okay. Everything's fine... just as long as you're okay." Heero wanted to touch Duo again, but felt it wouldn't be his smartest move. He was a smidge too emotional.

He turned to leave.

"Heero," Duo called, effectively stopping his progress. Heero turned to see Duo's eyes watching him with an unreadable expression. "Did you... mean it?"

It didn't matter exactly what Duo was referring to – Heero had meant every word he'd said. "Yes."

Duo hesitated – his heart monitor was the only thing that gave away his desperation. It was a wild rhythm. Heero almost expected the doctor to come running in demanding just what the hell he thought he was doing to the man's patient. Guess Heero had made some sort of impression with the man. "Then you... really..." Duo hesitated. "Would you... mind... staying...?"

Relief washed through Heero again. He smiled. "No. I wouldn't mind at all, Duo." He went back to the bed and sat in his little chair. He touched Duo's hand and smiled again. Duo attempted a smile back at him, even as he watched Heero with careful eyes. Heero admitted that he deserved the strange look.

Heero hit the buzzer for the doctor to return. He wanted to hear the diagnosis for Duo, as well. And no matter what the doctor tried, Heero wouldn't leave Duo. He vowed to not let Duo escape from him. Not ever again.

* * *

There's an epilogue for this, and then it's the end. OO OMG, I ended it on Wouldn't it be great to finally say that? Well, anyway, please review to help me remember. I had almost put it up when my computer completely crashed... I had to buy a new one... Thank you to those who reviewed in January, you helped me remember to remember... anyway. Almost over! See you next chapter! 


	20. Epilogue

Dedicated to winddancer1981, who has been nagging me. Also to Dragonborn Crystal, who probably won't read this on my site ( ) and all those who have waited for FOREVER for me to finally finish this story.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine. Duh.

Warning: The end. LE GASP!

* * *

Only You

Epilogue

* * *

The next day was an explosion of activity.

Everyone and their uncle seemed to need to see Duo. The other Gundam pilots raced in the minute visiting hours opened, Wufei griping that he hadn't been woken up immediately to be told the news. Trowa was the one consoling him, because Quatre was practically a blubbering mass of hysterics. He took over mother-henning Duo once they entered.

Then came the storm – Commander Une, Sally Po, Noin and even Zechs. Each of them stayed to inform Duo that he had a job waiting for him at Preventors if he was interested. Duo only stared for a while. "No more fighting," he whispered.

"All right," Commander Une pounced. "We have plenty of other areas. Hacking, technical maintenance, and software security. Hell, you could be a damn mechanic if you wanted."

Duo blinked for a few minutes, assimilating all that. "I don't want to be a mechanic," he said finally.

"Good. Because I don't want to waste you."

"Huh." Duo smiled. "I'll think about it."

Une smiled in triumph, knowing she'd won him over. Duo stuck out his tongue at her.

Only Duo, Heero mused, could get away with doing that.

Then more came in. It was like a freaking rampage. Howard had somehow found out about Duo's little escapade, as had Hilde. Howard only saw the kid was okay, talked for a bit, and left. Not Hilde. That girl came in with tears running down her cheeks.

"Duo," she wailed, "what were you thinking?"

"I wasn't," Duo replied, and then had tried to comfort her.

There was no comforting her. She'd rounded on Heero and Wufei – mostly Heero, since Wufei was in a wheelchair – and had accused him of trying to get Duo killed. Heero had looked down, unable to argue. This was when Howard had slunk out.

"Hilde, that's enough," Duo said firmly. Hilde turned to him in a heartbeat, forgetting Heero's existence.

"Duo... I know how you feel, but..." She gave Heero a furtive glance. Heero could almost feel the heat scorch his skin.

"No, it's not his fault. He tried to make me return to my house."

Hilde just kind of... withered. "Duo, were you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I had to help Diane." Heero noticed Duo's eyes slide slightly to the left. He wasn't answering her question, Heero realized. Because he'd been contemplating it. Heero's hands began to shake.

And then, as if on cue, Diane walked in.

Her eyes caught on Duo, lying shocked and silent on the hospital bed. She stood there for a moment, just staring.

Then, with a small cry, she launched herself over to the bed and kissed Duo's cheek. Her shoulders shook slightly – she was crying.

"Diane, everything's okay," Duo tried to reassure. He was obviously uncomfortable with the woman's tears.

"Oh, Duo," she wailed, "I'm so sorry!" She seemed to be struggling with herself, as if trying not to cry. "But... I was... so scared..." And she dissolved into sobs right there at the side of Duo's bed.

Hilde was there to lay her arms around the woman and coo to her. The men were all distinctly uncomfortable. Zechs seemed to need to be somewhere then, and Noin loyally followed him out. Commander Une smiled and led Sally Po out, both of them glancing back at Duo with a little smile on their faces.

Diane wiped her tears away – a useless attempt, since they were still leaking out her eyes. "Oh, Duo," she sighed. And hiccuped. "I was so worried about you! I thought you'd been..." And the tears started falling all over again. "And when you didn't come in... and it was just Mr. Yuy and that sweet Trowa guy..." Duo winced at the soft wail that escaped Diane's lips. "I thought that the bullet had..."

Duo's hand fluttered up uselessly. He didn't have the strength to get up and hug her, so Hilde did it for him. "But it didn't," he reassured. "You saved me. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead."

"Oh, but Duo, if it weren't for you I may have given up all hope!" Diane said emphatically. "Dear Mr. Yuy and Mr. Chang were kind, but... you were so nice to me..." She hugged herself. "You made me feel like I wasn't dirty."

Duo made a weird sound. Heero winced, remembering his first sight of her as he'd entered Jocker's room.

"You gave me strength," she whispered.

Hilde seemed well aware of how uncomfortable Duo was getting and squared her shoulders. "Come on, dear," she crooned, "he understands now."

Diane nodded. "I just... needed you to know." She smiled softly through her tears. Her hand came up to gently touch his cheek. "Dear Duo," she sighed, "you are so very precious."

Heero saw a suspicious shine in Duo's eyes as he replied. "Thank you." His voice was rough.

Hilde helped Diane out of the room. Duo watched her leave with a strange glint in his eye.

"Duo?" Quatre called out softly.

"Quatre," Duo said just as quietly. "May I have a minute alone?"

Everyone was quiet for a second before Wufei snorted. "No."

Duo glared at him.

Wufei raised an eyebrow. "Besides, I do believe that Heero has something to say."

This time it was Heero's turn to glare at his partner. Wufei only raised his eyebrows. Duo turned to Heero quizzically. Heero could only sigh. He did need to say it, if only because he'd promised himself. And he knew damn well that Wufei would make good on his threat and tell the braided man himself. "Duo, I have to tell you something."

Duo could only watch as Heero struggled with words. "Yeah?"

Wufei snorted at the exchange, sharing a knowing grin with Quatre. Trowa looked far too amused. Heero wanted to punch all of them. He imagined it with relish. "I..." His heart thumped oddly. He, who could usually not only control his heartbeat but also his brain waves, was practically panting. How could he possibly do this?

"Five more seconds, Yuy," Chang growled.

Heero was going to hit the guy. He didn't care that he was in a wheelchair. Nonetheless, he snapped his eyes up to meet Duo's and ground it out. "I love you."

Duo's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

Chang only sighed. "This is where you admit you love him too, Maxwell."

Duo shot Wufei a dirty look. Then he just turned back to Heero, eyes a bit lost. "What?" he repeated.

Heero steeled himself. "I love you, Duo. I have for... since the war. But I never..." He shook his head. "Wufei's wrong, isn't he?" he said sadly. "You don't think of me like that."

Duo was just gaping like a fish.

Heero felt a spike lance him somewhere very deep in his chest. "I knew it, but I just had to... I had sworn I would say it, if only I got the chance to." Heero had to close his eyes.

The silence that descended over them was suffocating. Wufei, again, decided to speak up. "I'm not wrong, you bastard," he said smugly. "Look."

Heero's brow furrowed and his eyes opened. He immediately saw the tears running down Duo's face. "Duo?"

"You bastard," Duo choked. "Why didn't you ever...?"

The pain became even stronger as hope strengthened the spike that prodded him. "Do you...?"

A huge grin broke out on Duo's face, almost blinding him. "Yes. Yes! I thought..."

"Oh, thank God," Heero sighed, moving to kneel by Duo's side and carefully cupping his face. "Thank God." And he lightly touched his lips to Duo's.

Duo's breath left on a stuttering sigh. "Heero," he whispered.

Wufei crowed. "It's about fucking time!"

"Shut up, Wufei," Heero ordered amicably, his lips never leaving Duo's. And he strengthened the touch so that talk was impossible.

It wasn't deep. But it was more than enough.

* * *

It took Duo all of two days to start griping at everyone to let him leave the hospital. Heero came and stayed with him throughout the day, only leaving for necessary purposes. The nights lasted long. Too long. Duo felt like his heart had taken wings. It kept itself right underneath his skin, trying to burst free.

He'd never known he could feel so free, so incredibly joyous. His dreams had become reality. It was evident whenever Heero looked at him, his eyes unmasked for the first time. Now Duo could understand the dinner he'd had with this man, why he'd seemed so different during the mission. Heero's mask was easily controlled for him, unlike Duo's. Heero had shown him his true self that evening at the restaurant. And here it was again, the real Heero, looking at him with unrestrained love in his eyes.

Granted, Heero was the most irritating obstacle in his way of getting the hell out of the hospital, but Duo now knew why. It wasn't obligation. It wasn't duty. Heero hovered over him, seeming to read his needs in his eyes. A mother-hen. He'd thought Quatre could be irritating. Heero had him beat.

Then again, Heero admitted that his heart had stopped beating once. Heero, he supposed, had a right to hover.

Wufei, of course, wouldn't leave them the fuck alone. Whenever he stopped by, he always had to point out how stupid the both of them were. Trowa was silent, but his one eye said it all. He was amused by the entire situation. Quatre, on the other hand, was a bundle of joyous energy. He was practically bouncing off the walls in happiness.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" he kept saying. The words seemed almost pasted on the walls by now. Oddly, the thought made Duo smile.

But his thoughts had eventually turned to the clones, and he couldn't help but think about them. It was during the third afternoon, with only Heero in the room, that he mused his thoughts. "I wonder if those clones could rest in peace."

Heero grunted, seemingly surprised by his sudden broach of the subject. "Possibly. They could never really find peace in life."

Duo mused on that. "They were never allowed to have emotions."

"They never did." But Duo could hear the doubt in Heero's voice.

"No," Duo argued. "They did. They wouldn't have been lovers if they hadn't. They wouldn't have hated us so much."

Heero grunted again. "My clone..." he hesitated. "My clone asked me why I followed my emotions. Why I... why I loved you. Wufei's clone killed him for it."

This time it was Duo's turn to grunt in surprise. Then he thought about it. "You know... maybe the doctors had it all wrong."

"Hm?"

"I mean," Duo explained, "maybe emotions really do make us stronger? And maybe there's no such thing as an emotionless person."

Heero was silent for a time. "I agree. I was trained to be emotionless, but it wasn't possible. I couldn't turn my back on what I felt. But at least I'd known that I was supposed to feel. They never knew."

Duo could only sigh. "So what makes us strong? What makes us real? Our bodies? Our emotions? Our thoughts?"

"I don't know," Heero answered. "But... I feel real right now." Heero's hand slipped into Duo's.

Duo smiled. His hand, almost of its own accord, moved to entwine their fingers. "Yeah. Me too."

* * *

**OWARI**

Hope you enjoyed. No sex, but I felt like throwing that in there would be lame. They seemed to be moving at a good pace as they were. The lemon would be frivolous and would leave things hurried. And if you thought I'd end everything with things miraculously perfect, think again. Life isn't like that. But at least everyone's moving forward together now...

Tell me what you think? I know this may have been a little fast...

**End Note:** I am considering doing a sequel, mostly because there have been a few people asking for one. I also plan to update everywhere much faster, since I want to get as much written as possible before I have to worry about such things as jobs and rents and everything – you know, while I still have it fairly easy as a college student. But this decision has to be all yours... otherwise the story ends here.


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